Bangladesh closes down educational institutions indefinitely, protestors call countrywide shutdown

Dhaka, July 18 (Representative) Singed by widespread violence over job quota protests, Bangladesh authorities have closed down all educational institutions right from primary schools to premier universities indefinitely, as the demonstrating students fighting for merit-based recruitment to the civil services, called for a countrywide shutdown on Thursday. The agitating students, opposing the quota system in the recruitment to the Bangladesh Civil Services, on Wednesday declared they will enforce a “complete shutdown” across the country on Thursday in protest against the violence inflicted upon hem by law enforcing agencies in different campuses, The Daily Star reported. Asif Mahmud, a front-ranking leader of the protest movement, gave the shutdown call through a Facebook post which he later shared with journalists.

Meanwhile, violence continued, as at least 100 protesters were injured when police fired shotgun pellets and lobbed teargas shells to disperse agitating students at Jahangirnagar University. At least six people were killed on Tuesday as the demonstration continued, defying earlier calls by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Supreme Court to return to class, Aljazeera reported According to the media, 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. On Monday, activists of Chhatra League – the student body of the ruling Bangladesh Awami League -attacked quota protesters on the Dhaka University campus – triggering fierce clashes that left at least 300 people injured till Wednesday, The Daily Star reported.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Tuesday night directed universities to suspend academic activities until further notice and instructed students to leave residential halls. The authorities have also closed down all primary schools in eight divisional cities. To ensure the safety of students of schools and colleges, all educational institutions under the education ministry, at the secondary and higher secondary levels, as well as polytechnic institutes, have also been ordered to remain shut until further notice. The Dhaka University authorities have closed the university indefinitely. Pro-VC (Academic) Prof Sitesh C Bachar confirmed that the decision was made during an emergency syndicate meeting, Dhaka Tribune reported. The campus was surrounded by police, Rapid Action Battalion, and armed forces personnel, with Border Guards Bangladesh vehicles patrolling the roads. Police and BGB personnel wee maintaining vigilance at the entrances and various points within the campus, stationed in groups with water cannons and riot cars.