Bangladesh job quota protesters call for nationwide shutdown
Al Jazeera
Rallies demanding an end to a quota system that reserves government jobs for specific groups have turned violent.
Student protesters demanding an end to quotas for government jobs in Bangladesh have called for a complete nationwide shutdown after six people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes this week.
Angered by high youth unemployment, with nearly 32 million people out of work or education in the total population of 170 million, the students have pressed for the abolition of a quota of 30 percent reservations for the families of veterans of the 1971 independence war.
“We will go ahead with our plans for complete shutdown … All establishments will remain closed,” said protest coordinator Nahid Islam.
“Only hospitals and emergency services will remain operational, with ambulance services being the sole permitted transport.”
Many government and private offices were open on Thursday in the capital, Dhaka, with three-wheelers and motorcycles on the streets, although public buses were fewer than usual.
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