Anti-quota protests leave over 30 dead in Bangladesh

The protest began on July 1 after the High Court's reinstatement of the freedom fighters' quota.

The death toll due to the ongoing quota has crossed 30.

According to reports, internet connectivity and phone lines are completely down in the country's capital Dhaka.

Several protesters rushed to the state broadcaster  Bangladesh Television (BTV)'s office on Thursday and set a portion of it on fire.

Eyewitnesses told Prothom Alo that more than a hundred people entered BTV headquarters by breaking the main gate.

A senior BTV journalist, who didn’t want to be named, told the BBC: "The situation was so bad we didn’t have any other option but to leave the place. Some of our colleagues were trapped inside. I don’t know what happened to them."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already appealed to students to end the protest.

Law minister Anisul Huq said the government would sit with the demonstrators.

“I have told the attorney general to appeal to the court on Sunday for an early hearing in this regard,” he was quoted as saying by Prothom Alo.

Urging the protesters to postpone the movement, the law minister said, “As a fatherly figure, I am requesting you to move away from the protest.”

Why Bangladesh is witnessing protests on quota?

Bangladesh has been witnessing the demonstrations for the past several days now with students wanting the the government to change to a system which reserves a third of public sector jobs for the relatives of veterans of the country’s war for independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Demanding for recruitment based on merit, the students called the quota system discriminatory.

Aleem Khan, 22, told the BBC: "The Prime Minister is asking for an end to the violence with one hand whilst, with the other hand, attacking students using pro-ruling party groups and the police."

One of the students, Sumi, told the BBC: “I am here to protest against discrimination within the civil service and now that so many students have been killed by the police, I am also protesting against that."

"Our protest is peaceful, but the way in which we were attacked made me feel like we were going to be killed by pro-ruling party groups," the student said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Bangladesh asked its citizens and students to avoid local travel and minimize movement outside living premises.