Bangladesh student group suspends protests over death toll

DHAKA: The Bangladeshi student group leading demonstrations that have spiralled into deadly violence suspended protests Monday for 48 hours, with its leader saying they had not wanted reform “at the expense of so much blood”.

What began as demonstrations against politicised admission quotas for sought-after government jobs snowballed into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina´s tenure. A curfew has been imposed and soldiers are patrolling cities across the South Asian country, while a nationwide internet blackout since Thursday has drastically restricted the flow of information. The streets of the capital Dhaka remained largely quiet Monday, and the army chief said the law and order situation had been brought “under control” since the military was deployed.

Nahid Islam, leader of the main protest organiser Students Against Discrimination, told AFP that “We are suspending the shutdown protests for 48 hours”. Nahid said he was hospitalised after being beaten by people he claimed were undercover police. “We demand that during this period the government withdraws the curfew, restores the internet and stops targeting the student protesters.”

On Sunday, the Supreme Court pared back the number of reserved jobs for specific groups, including the descendants of “freedom fighters” from Bangladesh´s 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. At least 163 people have died in clashes, including several police officers, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals.