Student violence in Bangladesh leaves dozens dead

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Deadly clashes between police and protesters demanding a change in Bangladesh’s employment quotas have left streets peppered with bullets and stained with blood, leaving dozens of people dead.

Frustrated by the lack of good jobs, students are demanding the abolition of a quota that reserves 30 percent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence.

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court scaled back this quota on Sunday and ordered that the proportion of veterans be reduced to 5%. 93% of the positions are to be filled on the basis of merit. The remaining 2% are reserved for members of ethnic minorities, transgender people and people with disabilities.

The protests represent the biggest challenge for the Bangladesh government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won elections in January for the fourth time in a row, which were boycotted by the main opposition groups. Universities have been closed, the internet has been shut down and the government has ordered people to stay at home.

The protests turned deadly on Tuesday, a day after clashes with police broke out at Dhaka University. The violence escalated further as police used tear gas and rubber bullets and threw smoke grenades to disperse stone-throwing protesters.

Bangladeshi authorities have not released official figures on the dead and injured, but at least four local newspapers reported more than 100 deaths on Sunday.