Dhaka, July 30 (EFE).- Students in Bangladesh covered their faces and eyes on Tuesday to protest an official mourning announced by the government in the memory of those killed in recent protests seeking quota reform in public service.
The Bangladeshi cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced the countrywide mourning for those killed during the recent “anarchy, sabotage, arson attack, plundering, and terror activities in the name of the anti-quota protest.”
The government asked people to wear black badges and arrange prayers in mosques, temples, churches, and pagodas for the nearly 200 killed during the events that unfolded in the past week, which also left thousands injured.
Khan Talat Mahmud Rafi, a coordinator of the protest, accused the government in a statement of shedding “crocodile tears” and holding a “mockery” with students instead of holding trial for mass killing and repression.
“We are requesting that you all cover your face and eyes with red clothes, reject this mourning, and publicize it online,” Rafi said.
Students returned to the streets on Monday, holding demonstrations in places across the country, rejecting an announcement of the withdrawal of the protest made by six detained leaders from custody.
Students accused the government of forcing their leaders to issue a “scripted statement at gunpoint,” an allegation that Hurn Or Rashid, the chief of Dhaka’s detective police, rejected.
Students alleged that police detained many protesters from Dhaka’s streets while trying to hold a demonstration on Monday.
KN Roy Niyati, a spokesperson of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, admitted detaining some students but said that they were not arrested.
“Some of them have already been released, and we are scrutinizing the role of others since a lot of things happened in the past few days,” Niyati told EFE.
He said that police have arrested 2,822 people in Dhaka on charges of violence in a special drive following the student protests.
“Our special drive ended yesterday. We are now doing regular policing activities,” he added.
Rights group Amnesty International said in a report on Monday that 9,000 people were arrested across Bangladesh in a police crackdown on student leaders, protest participants, and members of opposition parties following the quota-reform protests across Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh government on Monday raised the official death toll from the clashes to 150.
Hospital, police, fire service, and family sources confirmed to EFE that at least 194 people died during the clashes between July 16 and July 21 and their aftermath.
The Student Movement Against Discrimination has said that 266 people were killed during the protests.
The protests began in early July after the High Court ordered the government to restore the 30 percent employment quota reserved for the descendants of freedom fighters from Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war.
Protesters argued that the quota system was discriminatory and benefits supporters of the ruling Awami League, while the government defended it as a way to honor veterans of Bangladesh’s war of independence.
The protests escalated on July 15, with the first deaths reported the following day.
A curfew was imposed at midnight on July 19, with the army being called in to control the situation. EFE
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