Bangladesh: After 100+ deaths, PM Hasina cancels foreign visits as anti-quota stir intensifies
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Of the over 5,000 Indian students in Bangladesh, 1,000 have returned home while 4,000 are still stuck in the riot-torn neighboring country struggling to control violent anti-reservation agitation, that has claimed over 100 lives this week and forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to cancel her foreign visits.
PM Hasina was scheduled to leave Dhaka on Sunday for her diplomatic visits to Spain and Brazil, the media reported on Saturday.
Anti-Hasina Islamist organizations are also reported to be fueling this fire.
According to reports, 778 Indian students returned to India amid widespread unrest, violence, and curfew, via various land routes through the borders. Besides, around 200 students returned home by regular flight services through Dhaka and Chittagong airports.
This week’s violence has resulted in at least 115 deaths while hundreds of others were wounded. Life in several cities and towns came to a standstill with officials trying to control the escalating situation, despite the imposition of curfew.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka facilitated safe travel for Indian students to crossing points along the India-Bangladesh International Border. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is also collaborating with civil aviation, immigration, land ports, and the Border Security Force (BSF) to ensure a smooth passage for Indian nationals, the MEA said.
The High Commission is in regular contact with more than 4,000 students still stuck in various universities and educational institutions which remained closed because of the ongoing riots. Students from Nepal and Bhutan also returned home via India.
The Indian High Commission is also coordinating with Bangladesh’s civil aviation authorities and commercial airlines to ensure uninterrupted flight services to India from Dhaka and Chittagong, which can be used by Indian nationals to return home.
Bangladesh plunged into turmoil this week as clashes between student protesters, security officials, and pro-government student activists erupted over a contentious quota system for government jobs. The escalating violence has prompted protest organizers to call for a nationwide shutdown, with universities across the country closing their doors indefinitely.
The protests, which began late last month, reached a flash point on Monday when student activists at Dhaka University, the largest university in the Muslim-dominated country, engaged in violent clashes with police and counter-protesters aligned with the ruling Awami League, headed by PM Hasina.
The controversial quota policy reserves up to 30 percent of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan and is continuing through their generations.
Protesters argue that this dynastic reservation system is discriminatory and disproportionately benefits supporters of the Awami League. They advocate for a merit-based system to replace it. This policy had been postponed a few years ago after similar agitations and revived recently.
The tense situation in the country escalated this week, with soldiers patrolling cities to quell the civil unrest. Riot police have fired on protesters who defied a government-imposed curfew, leading to a volatile environment.
The death of over 100 people in the ongoing riots has posed a big challenge to the Hasina government which has been forced to deploy the army to quell the riots as local police failed to control the situation.
“The army has been deployed nationwide to control the law and order situation,” Bangladesh armed forces spokesperson Shahadat Hossain said.
The curfew will remain in effect until at least 10:00 am on Sunday, according to local media.
