Violence arrest total passes 2,500: AFP

The number of arrests in days of violence in Bangladesh passed the 2,500-mark in a tally on Tuesday, after the protests over employment quotas sparked widespread unrest, reports AFP. At least 174 people have died, including several police officers, according to a separate AFP count of victims, reported by police and hospitals. What began as demonstrations against politicised admission quotas for the sought-after government jobs snowballed last week into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina's tenure. A curfew was imposed and soldiers were deployed across the country, and a nationwide internet blackout drastically restricted the flow of information, upending daily life for many. The student group leading the demonstrations suspended its protests Monday for 48 hours, with its leader saying they had not wanted reform "at the expense of so much blood". The restrictions remained in place on Tuesday after the army chief said the situation had been brought "under control". There was a heavy military presence in Dhaka, with bunkers set up at some intersections and key roads blocked with barbed wire. But more people were on the streets, as were hundreds of rickshaws. "I did not drive rickshaws on the first few days of curfew. But today I didn't have any choice. If I don't do it, my family will go hungry," Hanif, a rickshaw driver, told the agency. The head of Students Against Discrimination, the main group organising the protests, told AFP in his hospital room on Monday that he feared for his life after being abducted and beaten. The group said on Tuesday at least four of its leaders were missing, asking the authorities to "return" them by the evening. The authorities' response to the protests has been widely criticised, with Bangladeshi Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus urging "the world leaders and the United Nations to do everything within their powers to end the violence" in a statement. The 83-year-old economist is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank, but earned the PM's enmity, who has accused him of "sucking blood" from the poor. "Young people are being killed at random every day. Hospitals do not reveal the number of wounded and dead," Dr Yunus told AFP. The diplomats in Dhaka also questioned the government's actions, with US Ambassador Peter Haas telling the foreign minister that he had shown a one-sided video in a briefing to diplomats. The government officials have repeatedly blamed the protesters and opposition for the unrest. More than 1,200 people detained over the course of the violence, nearly half of the total 2,580, were held in Dhaka and its rural and industrial areas, according to the police officials who spoke to AFP. Almost 600 were arrested in Chittagong and its rural areas, with hundreds more detentions tallied in multiple districts across the country. With around 18 million young people in Bangladesh out of work, according to the government figures, the quota scheme reintroduction in June deeply upset graduates. With protests mounting across the country, the Supreme Court on Sunday curtailed the number of reserved jobs from 56 per cent of all positions to seven per cent for specific groups, including the descendants of freedom fighters. On Monday, Sheikh Hasina's spokesman told AFP that the PM had approved a government order, putting the Supreme Court's judgement into effect. According to the FE correspondents, in Sylhet, the number of persons arrested stood at 110 until Tuesday. In Khulna city, police arrested 16 activists of BNP and Jamaat from Sonadanga and Khalishpur. Besides, in Rajshahi, about 100 persons were arrested. In Rangpur, the law-enforcers arrested 75 people, including activists of BNP and Jamaat. In Chandpur, a total of 28 activists of BNP-Jamaat were arrested. In Cox's Bazar, police arrested more than 100 persons until Tuesday. In Lalmonirhat, 10 were arrested following different incidents.