DHAKA – The Bangladeshi government has formed a judicial committee, led by a Supreme Court judge, to investigate violence during student protests over the quota system in public sector jobs, which resulted in the deaths of 197 people.
Mohammad A. Arafat, the junior information and broadcasting minister, vowed that those responsible for the unrest since last week would be punished, Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying to international media correspondents in the capital Dhaka.
Since Saturday, the government has imposed a curfew and deployed troops across the country to quell the protests. However, yesterday the curfew was relaxed for several hours to allow people to buy daily necessities.
At least 197 people were killed and thousands more injured during protests that erupted on July 16.
The government has yet to release the official death toll, with Arafat saying it is working to determine the exact number of casualties.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said: “We will identify them one by one with all of our strength. They will face legal consequences. We will not back down to ensure it,” he told reporters in Dhaka.
More than 800 people have been arrested in Dhaka in the past 24 hours, and over 3,000 across the country, in connection with the violence, according to police. Local media reported that the majority of those arrested are opposition party members.
Student movement coordinators issued a 48-hour ultimatum on Tuesday to restore order and reopen campuses across the country.
In response, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury said the current situation was unsuitable for reopening educational institutions.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, junior telecommunications minister, announced that broadband internet would be restored on an experimental basis on Wednesday night, followed by mobile internet within the next week.
Social media remained inaccessible until yesterday, with Palak blaming major platforms for failing to follow the country’s laws and allowing the spread of disinformation that incited violence. – July 25, 2024