Tens of thousands of university students marched in cities across Bangladesh on Wednesday in one of the biggest protests faced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her decade in power. Students fighting against a controversial policy that sets aside government jobs for special groups have united in mass protests rarely seen on such a scale in Bangladesh.
In Dhaka chanting mobs of students blockaded major roads and swarmed Dhaka University, bringing traffic to a standstill in the congested capital of 15 million. Police were deployed to the university where clashes in recent days left more than 100 students injured by tear gas and rubber bullets.
"There are more than 5,000 protesters at the DU," a senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police officer told AFP, referring to Bangladesh's most prestigious university. Police in Savar, northwest of Dhaka, said an estimated 7,000 students had descended on a major highway linking traffic to the capital, causing chaos.
"They completely blockaded the road," police inspector Abdul Awal told AFP. In Chittagong, the second-largest city, some 4,000 students blocked a railway track and roads, police said.
Protesters also caused disruptions in the major cities of Khulna, Barisal, Kushtia, Comilla, Mymensingh and Gopalganj. The prime minister told parliament she had instructed her cabinet secretary to review the quota system and try to resolve the situation.
"Why should the people suffer? she said in a speech to parliament as reported by private broadcaster Ntv. She condemned the violence and said in the past three civil service tests, more than 70 percent of the posts were recruited on merit.
Protests intensified Wednesday after allegations circulated widely on social media of a violent confrontation between a ruling party activist and a student protest leader.
Demonstrators want the share of top government positions set aside for minority groups and the disabled significantly reduced. They are also particularly irate that 30 percent of government positions are reserved for descendents of veterans from Bangladesh's 1971 independence war.
The government has promised to review the quota system but that caused a rift among demonstrators, with some accepting the assurance and others rejecting it.