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| Bangladesh |
| Bangladesh protesters set state TV HQ ablaze as death toll mounts, internet cut |
| 2024-07-19 |
| [NEWARAB] Bangladeshi students set fire to the country's state broadcaster on Thursday as protests against civil service hiring rules escalated, with the death toll mounting to at least 39 and authorities imposing what one monitor called a "near-total" internet blackout Police fired rubber bullets at hundreds of protesters, who fought back and chased retreating officers to the headquarters of Bangladesh Television (BTV) in the capital Dhaka. Demonstrators set ablaze the broadcaster's reception building and dozens of vehicles parked outside. A station executive later told AFP that staff had safely evacuated the building. A day earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave a national address on the network seeking to calm the escalating clashes. "Our first demand is that the prime minister must apologise to us," protester Bidisha Rimjhim, 18, told AFP. "Secondly, justice must be ensured for our killed brothers," she added. As night fell, Bangladesh was plunged into a "near-total" internet shutdown, outage monitor NetBlocks said. It said the latest outage "follows earlier efforts to throttle social media and restrict mobile data services" - key communication tools for protest organisers. Near-daily marches this month have demanded an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan. Critics say the scheme benefits children of pro-government groups that back Hasina, 76, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition. Related: Sheikh Hasina 01/07/2024 Bangladesh’s one-sided election leaves some voters asking, ‘What’s the point?’ Sheikh Hasina 08/11/2023 Bangladeshi UN worker in Yemen freed by Al Qaeda branch Sheikh Hasina 10/30/2022 Untangling the Chittagong Hill Tracts |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 A High Security Alert has been issued for the whole of Bangladesh, as violent clashes between students and police continue. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-07-19 04:46 |