Live Bangladesh quota protests: Students demand ‘shutdown’ as 11 more people killed | Protest news

On Thursday, residents and students in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi district were involved in violent clashes with armed members of the ruling Awami League for at least five hours.

Dhanmondi, an upscale neighbourhood in the capital known as the seat of the Awami League chairman, has traditionally been a stronghold of the party.

Nevertheless, students from various private universities in the region took to the streets on Thursday to demand a nationwide shutdown.

According to eyewitnesses, their peaceful protest was severely attacked by Awami League activists, who fired live ammunition at civilians and demonstrators.

“Can you believe this? They fired live ammunition during a peaceful protest?” Kazi Abullah Yusuf, a Dhanmondi resident who took part in the demonstration, told Al Jazeera.

Angry over a Facebook video showing brutal attacks on students in Dhanmondi, Yusuf and his wife immediately left their children at home to join the protests.

In Dhanmondi, dozens of students were injured and hospitalized after violent clashes. As the protests died down in the evening, a participating student named Ahnaf Ajwar said the movement had moved on from quota reform, its original starting point.