Nearly 100 People Killed in Bangladesh as Protesters Renew Demands for Prime Minister’s Resignation

Several people have been killed and many more injured during renewed anti-government protests in Bangladesh. Demonstrators are demanding the prime minister’s resignation as authorities shut down mobile internet access to control the situation.

The country’s leading Bengali-language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo, said at least 100 people, including at least 14 police officers, had died on Sunday in the violence. Channel 24 reported at least 85 deaths.

The death toll was the highest for a single day from any protests in Bangladesh’s recent history, according to Reuters news agency.

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Indefinite Curfew Imposed Amid Renewed Protests in Bangladesh

The military announced that a new curfew, including in the capital, Dhaka, and other divisional and district headquarters, would come into effect on Sunday evening indefinitely. Earlier, The government imposed a curfew with some exceptions in Dhaka and elsewhere.

Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, after protests last month that began with students calling for an end to a quota system for government jobs. Those demonstrations escalated into violence that left more than 200 dead.

As the renewed violence raged, Hasina said the protesters who engaged in “sabotage” and destruction were no longer students but criminals, and that people should deal with them with iron hands.

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Government Responds to Protests with Crackdown and Curfews

The ruling Awami League party said the demand for Hasina’s resignation showed that the protests had been taken over by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party and the now-banned Jamaat-e-Islami party.

On Sunday, the government announced a holiday from Monday to Wednesday. Courts were to be closed indefinitely, while mobile internet services were cut off, and Facebook and messaging apps, including WhatsApp, were inaccessible.

At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks. The unrest has also resulted in the closure of schools and universities across the country, and authorities at one point imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew.

Video footage on Sunday showed protesters vandalizing a prison van at the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court in Dhaka. Other videos showed police opening fire on the crowds with bullets, rubber bullets, and teargas. The protesters set fire to vehicles and the ruling party’s offices. Some carried sharp weapons and sticks, according to TV footage.