After a week of clashes that reportedly led to the death of nearly 200 people, including security personnel, Bangladesh was slowly getting back to normalcy on Wednesday, with the authorities lifting the curfew for seven hours. According to a report by AP, offices and banks opened for a few hours on Wednesday. Although most of the country remained without internet, broadband internet was restored in some areas in Dhaka and the second-largest city of Chattogram. The report said that, after the curfew was lifted, thousands of cars were back on the streets in Dhaka.
The Bangladesh government, the report said, relaxed the curfew from 10 am to 5 pm, and allowed offices and banks to open from 11 am to 3 pm. Several garment factories that export primarily to Western countries remained open as well.
The government has said no legal action will be taken against the student protesters, who hit the streets over job reservations for freedom fighters’ descendents, but media reports suggest around 2,700 people have been arrested. This reportedly includes opposition supporters. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has also pledged that the perpetrators of violence would face justice.
The country’s junior minister for information and broadcasting, Mohammad Ali Arafat, told a news conference on Wednesday that the official casualty figures will be announced after a judicial inquiry.
The week-long clashes erupted after students protested against a decision to reserve 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971. On Sunday, the Supreme Court said the quota will be cut to 5% and 93% of civil service jobs will be merit-based. The remaining 2% will be reserved for members of ethnic minorities as well as transgender and disabled people.
The decision was accepted by Hasina’s government. Even though the protesters have accepted the decision, they said the government is still answerable for the bloodshed that took place during the protests.
