Dhaka: Streets appeared calm in Bangladesh’s capital, a day after the Supreme Court agreed to scrap most govt job quotas that had angered student-led activists and led to deadly protests.
Late on Sunday, protesters gave Bangladesh’s govt 48 hours to meet a string of new demands, including a public apology from PM Sheikh Hasina for the violence, and the restoration of internet connections disrupted in the unrest.
But on Monday, most appeared to be obeying a curfew in cities that had seen regular demonstrations after a high court in June reinstated old quotas that reserved many state jobs for descendants of freedom fighters and other groups.
Nearly 150 people have died in the violence, according to information from hospitals. Dhaka police have arrested 516 people for involvement in “destructive attacks”, spokesperson Faruq Hossain said.
A public holiday declared over the last two days was extended, according to a govt notification. “Normalcy will return within one or two days,” home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.
UAE jails Bangladeshis
Meanwhile, a court in the UAE sentenced dozens of Bangladeshi nationals to prison, including three for life imprisonment, over protests against their home govt in the Gulf country, state media reported. The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal handed 10-year jail terms to 53 Bangladeshis nationals and an 11-year term to another, in addition to the three life imprisonments, according to the state-owned Emirates News Agency, WAM. The UAE’s attorney general’s office indicted the Bangladeshis on several charges, including “gathering in a public place, protesting against their home govt with the intent to incite unrest,” obstructing law enforcement, causing harm to others and damaging property.
