Bangladesh shuts schools and universities after six killed in protests

Bangladesh has ordered schools and universities across the country to close indefinitely after six people were killed in protests over quotas in government jobs.

Every high school, university and Islamic seminary was told to remain shut until further notice following weeks of escalating demonstrations against civil service hiring policies.

Tuesday saw a significant escalation in violence as demonstrators and pro-government student groups attacked each other with bricks and bamboo rods, and police dispersed rallies with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Ministry of Education spokesman MA Khair said the shutdown order was issued for “the security of the students”.

At least six people were killed on Tuesday as demonstrators mobilised for another day in several cities, defying earlier calls by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Supreme Court to return to class.

Three died in Chittagong and had signs of bullet injuries, Chittagong Medical College Hospital Director Mohammad Taslim Uddin said, adding that another 35 had been injured during clashes in the port city.

Two people died in the capital, Dhaka, where rival student groups threw bricks at each other and blocked roads in several key locations that ground traffic to a halt.

In the northwestern city of Rangpur, Police Commissioner Mohammad Moniruzzaman said a student was killed in clashes there.

As the day wore on and with some key highways around the country blocked by the protesters, authorities deployed the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) force in five major cities, including Dhaka and Chittagong.

The students have demanded an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.

Critics say the scheme benefits children of pro-government groups that back Hasina, who won her fourth consecutive election in January.