At least 43 people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes in Bangladesh on Sunday, as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
In response, the government declared an indefinite nationwide curfew starting at 6 PM on Sunday, marking the first such action during the current protests, which began last month. Additionally, a three-day general holiday was announced starting Monday.
The unrest, which led to the shutdown of internet services, poses the biggest challenge to Hasina since deadly protests erupted in January following her fourth consecutive election victory, which was boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Critics, along with human rights groups, accuse Hasina’s government of using excessive force to suppress the movement, a charge the government denies.
On Sunday, demonstrators blocked major highways, with student protesters launching a non-cooperation campaign to press for the government’s resignation. The violence spread nationwide.
“Those who are protesting on the streets right now are not students but terrorists who are out to destabilize the nation,” Hasina said after a national security panel meeting with leaders from the army, navy, air force, police, and other agencies. “I appeal to our countrymen to suppress these terrorists with a strong hand.”
Police stations and ruling party offices were targeted as violence erupted across the country, home to 170 million people.
In the capital, Dhaka, at least five people were killed, and dozens were injured amid fierce clashes, according to police and witnesses. Two construction workers were killed, and 30 were injured in the central district of Munsiganj during a three-way clash involving protesters, police, and ruling party activists.
“They were brought dead to the hospital with bullet wounds,” said Abu Hena Mohammad Jamal, the superintendent of the district hospital.
Police denied firing any bullets, attributing injuries to improvised explosives detonated as the area turned into a battleground.
In the northeastern district of Pabna, at least three people were killed, and 50 injured during a clash between protesters and activists of Hasina’s ruling Awami League, witnesses reported. Three people were also killed in violence in the northern district of Bogura, while 30 more were killed across 12 other districts, according to hospital officials.
“An attack on a hospital is unacceptable,” said Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen after a group vandalized a medical college hospital and set fire to vehicles, including an ambulance, in Dhaka.
For the second time during the recent protests, the government shut down high-speed internet services, according to mobile operators. Social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp were inaccessible, even via broadband connections.
Bangladesh authorities instructed the country’s telecoms on Sunday to disable 4G services, effectively shutting down internet access, according to a confidential government memo seen by Reuters.
“You are requested to shut down all your 4G services until further notice; only 2G will be effective,” said the document issued by the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center, a government intelligence agency.
Telecom companies were previously warned that their licenses could be canceled if they did not comply with government orders, according to a source familiar with the situation. The telecom regulatory body did not respond to Reuters’ calls.
Last month, at least 150 people were killed, and thousands injured in violence triggered by student groups protesting against quotas for government jobs. The protests paused after the Supreme Court eliminated most quotas, but students resumed sporadic protests last week, demanding justice for the families of those killed.
“I think the genie is out of the bottle, and Hasina may not be able to put it back in,” said Shakil Ahmed, an associate professor of government and politics at Jahangirnagar University. “The prime minister should immediately form a national government to facilitate greater unity.”
