Smoke rises from burning automobiles after protesters set them on hearth close to the Catastrophe Administration Directorate workplace, through the ongoing anti-quota protest in Dhaka on July 18, 2024. | Picture credit score: AFP
The Indian Excessive Fee has warned Indian residents and college students in Bangladesh to “minimise” their actions past their “locations of residence”. Thursday’s warning got here amid daylong clashes between police, college students and political activists demanding an finish to quotas in authorities jobs.
As a part of the crackdown, Bangladeshi authorities blocked cellular web entry on Thursday night.
Protesters vandalize automobiles through the anti-quota protest in Dhaka on July 18, 2024. | Picture credit score: AFP
The Indian authorities has not made any official assertion on the protests, which started final week and have become one of many elements that led Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to chop quick her go to to China.
‘BTV workers trapped’
Protesters additionally surrounded and set hearth to one of many essential broadcasting models of state-run Bangladesh TV (BTV) in Dhaka. Native sources stated a number of BTV workers had been inside the tv station on the time.
In a Fb put up, BTV introduced: “A harmful hearth at BTV is spreading quickly. A fast response from the hearth division is sought. Numerous persons are trapped inside.” The situation of the BTV station workers in Rampura remained unknown till Thursday night, when the state broadcaster stopped transmitting and web connectivity slowed down in Dhaka.
In line with German state media outlet DW, at the least 19 folks had been killed in Thursday’s clashes.
Protests in opposition to quotas
Protesters have been demanding equal alternatives for presidency jobs in Bangladesh, the place particular quotas are reserved for Liberation Warfare veterans, minorities and tribal communities. Protesters declare that eligible candidates are being denied a big share of presidency jobs as a result of this quota system. The standoff, which has been brewing for a number of weeks, erupted final week when the federal government initially confirmed an adamant angle. Nonetheless, after the most recent clashes, Bangladeshi Regulation Minister Anisul Huq stated that Sheikh Hasina’s authorities was prepared to carry talks with the protesters.
In the meantime, Hasnat Abdullah, one of many main figures within the anti-quota protest, indicated that activists’ place has hardened. “There shall be no dialogue so long as the bloodshed continues,” he stated in a Fb put up. Within the absence of the state broadcaster and erratic web connections, rumours have unfold quickly about folks lacking or unable to be contacted by cell phone.
The protest got here as a shock to Sheikh Hasina’s authorities, which returned to energy for a fourth consecutive time period in January after a disputed election boycotted by the primary opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Get together. The BNP has proven sympathy for the protesters, blaming the federal government for top inflation and unemployment.
Help for the Indians
India has a substantial variety of residents learning and dealing in varied sectors of the Bangladeshi economic system. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, India needed to evacuate its residents when Dhaka and different cities in Bangladesh declared lockdowns.
These looking for consular assist could contact the Excessive Fee of India in Dhaka at +880-1937400591 (additionally out there on Whatsapp); and the Auxiliary Excessive Commissions in Chittagong (+880-1814654797), Rajshahi (+880-1788148696, additionally on Whatsapp), Sylhet (+880-1313076411) and Khulna (+880-1812817799).
