Bangladeshi authorities announced the implementation of a curfew and the deployment of military forces on Friday ( Jul 19 ), after police failed to stop the country’s deadly unrest.
At least 105 people have been killed in clashes between pupil demonstrators and police this week, according to an AFP count of patients reported by institutions, and they pose a significant challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian government’s 15 years in office.
Nayeemul Islam Khan, Hasina’s push secretary, reported to AFP that the government had decided to impose a law and deploy the military to help the civil authorities.
He added that it would immediately enact the restriction.
In an effort to prevent further violence, police in the investment Dhaka earlier took the extreme step of banning all public meetings for the day. This was a first step since protests started.
” We’ve banned all demonstrations, parades and people groups in Dhaka today”, police chief Habibur Rahman told AFP, adding the shift was necessary to ensure “public security”.
Despite an online shutdown intended to thwart the organization of rallies, that did not prevent a further round of clashes between police and protesters in the sprawling megalopolis of 20 million people.
” Our opposition will proceed”, Sarwar Tushar, who joined a protest in the investment and sustained minor injuries when it was fiercely dispersed by officers, told AFP.
Sheikh Hasina should resign without delay, we request. The government is responsible for the deaths”.
A police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity that scholar protesters stormed a prison in the northern Bangladeshi city of Narsingdi and freed its individuals before setting the hospital on fire.
” I do n’t know the number of inmates, but it would be in the hundreds”, he added.