The Sheikh Hasina-led government in Bangladesh has imposed a nationwide curfew and deployed military forces to restore order after days of violent protests over the allocation of government jobs.
The clashes, which have left at least 105 people dead and over 1,500 injured, represent one of the most severe crises the country has faced in recent years.
The curfew was announced late Friday by Obaidul Quader, general secretary of the ruling Awami League party, who stated that the measure was necessary to assist civilian authorities in maintaining control.
This decision followed a day of intense confrontations in Dhaka and other cities, where police fired bullets and tear gas at protesters, and gatherings were banned in the capital.
The protests, primarily led by students, are against the reservation system in public sector jobs, which includes quotas for the relatives of war heroes who fought for Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Demonstrators argue that the current system is discriminatory and primarily benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League party was at the forefront of the independence movement.
They are demanding a shift to a merit-based system.
Tensions escalated dramatically on Thursday when protesters set fire to the state broadcaster’s offices, leading to a government shutdown of the metro rail in Dhaka, railway services to and from the capital, and mobile internet networks in several regions.
Schools and universities have been closed indefinitely.
The unrest has also affected the media, with several newspaper websites becoming inactive and news television channels, including the state broadcaster BTV, going off the air.
Entertainment channels continued to broadcast, but some displayed messages citing technical problems and pledging to resume normal programming soon.
Adding to the chaos, the official websites of the central bank, the prime minister's office, and the police were reportedly hacked by a group identifying itself as “THE R3SISTANC3”.
Messages on the hacked sites read, "Operation HuntDown, Stop Killing Students," and "It's not a protest anymore, it's a war now."
In a shocking turn of events, student protesters stormed a jail in the Narsingdi district, freeing hundreds of inmates before setting the facility ablaze.
"I don't know the number of inmates freed, but it would be in the hundreds," a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
International reactions have been swift. India, which has a significant stake in regional stability, declined to comment directly on the protests but assured that the approximately 15,000 Indian nationals in Bangladesh were “safe and sound.”
"We see this as an internal matter of Bangladesh," said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
The United States, a frequent critic of Hasina’s government, condemned the violence.
"We need to make sure that any kind of freedom of expression is happening safely and people are free from violence," state department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters. "That’s something we’re continuing to pay close attention to."
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