General holiday today, tomorrow

Amid the nationwide curfew to quell the deadly anti-quota protests, the government has announced a two-day general holiday on Sunday and Monday.

In a circular issued on Saturday, the Ministry of Public Administration said all government, private and autonomous institutions, apparel factories, banks, insurances and other financial institutions would remain closed during the time.

However, the Appellate Division on Sunday morning will hear a petition over quota reform -- a potential legal resolution that could help settle the demand of the protesting students.

The holiday announcement came amid a curfew imposed by the authorities in the face of violent clashes that left over 100 dead across the country in the past couple of days.

The protests, led by students and job aspirants seeking cancelation of quota system in public job recruitment, also saw arsons and vandalism on a massive scale across Bangladesh.

The agitating students, under the banner of 'Students against Discrimination', said they do not support vandalism and will not take any responsibility of those, while the ruling Awami League claimed anti-government quarters were behind the attacks to destabilise the law and order.

Following the large-scale chaos and arsons over the past few days, the government enforced a nationwide curfew from the early hours of Saturday.

The curfew was relaxed briefly for two hours from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm on Saturday. It was then reinforced, and will continue until 10:00 am on Sunday.

Emergency services including hospital, gas, medicine, power and water supply will remain out of the purview of the holiday notice.

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