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MEA advisory for Indians as Bangladesh students quota protest kills 39 people
India's Ministry of Externals Affairs requested citizens to follow the advisory issued by the High Commission, urging them to limit movement outside houses.
The ministry of externals affairs (MEA) on Friday requested Indians in Bangladesh to follow the advisory issued by the high commission of India in Dhaka urging people to stay indoors amid a nationwide strike against the government’s job quota system.
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The high commission and the assistant high commissions are available for any help required by the Indian nationals in Bangladesh on the helpline numbers, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a social media post on X.
Indian citizens in Bangladesh have been advised to stay indoors and avoid any unwanted travels by the High Commission. “In view of the ongoing situation in Bangladesh, the Indian community members and the Indian students residing in Bangladesh are advised to avoid travel and minimise their movement outside their living premises,” the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in the advisory.
According to news agency AFP, the violence has claimed the lives of at least 39 people this week including 32 on Thursday. Government buildings were torched by demonstrators and a nationwide internet blackout has also been put into effect by the Sheikh Hasina government.
More than 2500 have been injured with hundreds of university students holding rallies in the country capital Dhaka for weeks protesting the Bangladesh's reservation system in public sector jobs. Currently, more than half of government jobs are reserved for specific groups, including children of war veterans of the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.
In 2018, PM Sheikh Hasina had decided to scrap this reservation system following protests. However, in June, the Bangladesh high court overturned this decision triggering student outrage. A date has been set to August 7 by the Supreme Court after the government appeal to the high courts' decision.
The situation in Bangladesh got worse following Hasina's refusal to meet student demands resulting in members of the student wing of Hasina's Awami League party and the police equipped with rubber bullets, tear gas and noise grenades clashing with thousands of anti-quota demonstrators. On Thursday, protesters set fire to set fire to the country's state broadcaster, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the network seeking to calm the escalating clashes.
(with inputs from news agencies)
