The number of fatalities during the ongoing student demonstrations in Bangladesh, which are protesting the quota system for civil service positions, has risen to 50 as of Friday afternoon, according to an AFP tally based on reports from hospitals across the country.
"We have received five bodies here. They were killed today," stated Bacchu Mia from Dhaka Medical College Hospital to AFP on Friday, adding to the 45 other deaths recorded nationwide since Tuesday. Independent Television reported that 702 individuals were injured during Thursday's confrontations, including 104 police officers and 30 journalists.
These nationwide demonstrations are the largest since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's re-election for a fourth term, and are exacerbated by high youth unemployment, with nearly one-fifth of the 170 million population either unemployed or out of education. The protests commenced on July 1 with university students obstructing major roads and railway lines in large cities to highlight their demands. They have persisted almost daily since, with high school students also participating in the rallies, despite the Supreme Court's suspension of the quota system on July 10 for one month and its call for demonstrators to resume classes.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshi expatriates in the UAE are becoming increasingly concerned as violent clashes between protesters and police continue in their homeland. Additionally, communication lines have been disrupted and internet services have been cut off nationwide. The quotas have ignited anger among students who are confronted with high youth unemployment rates, with approximately 32 million young Bangladeshis not engaged in work or education out of a total population of 170 million people.
The demonstrations escalated after Prime Minister Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who led Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, declined to meet the protesters' demands. The protests turned violent this week as thousands of anti-quota protesters clashed with members of the student wing of the ruling Awami League party throughout the country.
