At least 150 people have died as a consequence of skirmishes between police and university students in Bangladesh, which broke out as a result of anti-government rallies.
The government has held political opponents responsible for the uprising that broke out following the imposition of quotas on government positions. A countrywide internet outage began on Thursday, limiting the flow of information until Tuesday night when limited access was restored. Users report sluggish internet speeds, the suspension of mobile internet and services like Facebook, and the influx of WhatsApp messages between friends and family.
Sheikh Hasina, who became prime minister for the fourth time in a row in January, has never faced adversity like this before. Conflicts between protesters and law enforcement were “really horrible” the next day, according to Raya, a student at the private BRAC.
The police stormed the campus about 11:30 a.m., attacking students with tear gas shells before using rubber bullets to subdue them.
The majority of the casualties occurred on July 19th, when hundreds of protestors clashed with police at Natun Bazaar, close to Rampura. Protesters threw stones and bricks at police, who retaliated with tear gas, sound grenades, shotgun fire, and aerial gunfire from a helicopter.
Many wounded people, many of whom were walking in bloodstained rags, were beginning to show up at local hospitals. The rapid influx of hundreds of patients caused emergency rooms to become overcrowded.
By Friday night, things had escalated to the point that the government had declared a statewide curfew and had sent the army into the streets. A student leader named Nahid Islam has been missing since the incident on Friday. According to his dad, he disappeared from a friend’s house at midnight on Friday and didn’t show up again until almost 24 hours later. He went on to explain how individuals posing as detectives had abducted him, taken him to a room at a house, interrogated him, and tortured him mentally and physically.
There remain unanswered concerns regarding the victims, some of whom do not appear to have been directly involved in the demonstrations. Tragically, 21-year-old Maruf Hossain passed away in the hospital after being shot in the back while attempting to flee the battle. A construction worker named Selim Mandal lost his life in a fire that broke out early Sunday morning following a shooting in the neighborhood. The family of 27-year-old Hasib Iqbal is in the dark about how he passed away during the turmoil.
