Two killed, over 30 injured as fresh clashes break out in Bangladesh

Awami League supporters clashed with protestors, who gathered in Dhaka demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation

Dhaka: At least two people were killed and 30 others injured Sunday in clashes between protestors and the ruling Awami League supporters on the outskirts of Dhaka as thousands of demonstrators gathered in Bangladesh’s capital demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina‘s resignation.

The clashes broke out this morning when protesters attending a non-cooperation programme to demand the government’s resignation faced opposition from the supporters of the Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League activists. “At least two people have been killed and 30 others injured in a clash between protestors and Awami League men in Munshiganj,” the Dhaka ‘Tribune’ newspaper reported.

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Several cocktail explosions occurred during the incident, the paper said, adding that the identity of the deceased could not be known immediately. Meanwhile, hundreds of students and professionals gathered at Dhaka’s Shahbagh, blocking traffic on all sides.

The protesters under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement chanted slogans calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and justice for those killed in the recent violence surrounding the quota reform protests, Bdnews24 news portal reported.

Protesters also gathered at the Science Lab intersection of the capital on the first day of the non-cooperation movement. They chanted anti-government slogans. Protest coordinators said that there will also be protests and rallies at Dhaka’s Science Laboratory, Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Technical, Mirpur-10, Rampura, Tejgaon, Farmgate, Panthapath, Jatrabari, and Uttara.

According to the ‘Daily Star’ newspaper, several vehicles at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) were torched on Sunday by unidentified people. People carrying sticks were seen vandalising private cars, ambulances, motorcycles, and buses on the hospital premises, triggering fear among the patients, their attendants, doctors and staff, the paper said.

Bangladesh recently witnessed violent clashes between the police and mostly student protesters demanding an end to a controversial quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971. Over 200 people have been killed in the violence.