KUALA LUMPUR – At least 532 people, including opposition figures, have been arrested as chaos and violence escalate in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, which were sparked by massive protests against job quotas.
Among the detainees are opposition Bangladesh National Party’s third-most senior leader Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and its spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, former national football captain and party member Aminul Huq, and Mia Golam Parwar, general secretary of the country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
So far, the violence has claimed the lives of three policemen and 160 others, and injured 1,000.
On Sunday, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud summoned diplomats for a briefing and reportedly blamed the protesters for the damage caused.
Demonstrations started as a protest against admission quotas for sought-after government jobs but escalated into violence on the streets and crackdown on opposition leaders.
US ambassador Peter Haas told AFP that Hasan presented a one-sided version of events.
As for the Students Against Discrimination, the main group organising the demonstrations, said it won’t call off the protests until the government succumbs to the demands.
Wisma Putra will also evacuate all Malaysians, including students in Bangladesh, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
Mohamad added that arrangements have been made with several government agencies for this evacuation, including the National Security Council (NSC) and AirAsia management, to bring them home starting tomorrow. – July 22, 2024