Violent clashed have been reported in capital city of Bangladesh, Dhaka, as authorities fired tear gas at students and put off mobile internet connections after a week of protests by youth over road safety following the death of two teenagers who were mowed down by a speeding bus.
Students numbering thousands from various colleges and schools on Sunday started controlling traffic in Dhaka for the eighth consecutive day.
Students occupying an intersection in central Dhaka were fired with tear gas by Bangladeshi police.
“It was a peaceful rally but suddenly police fired tear gas shells aimed at us [that] left several injured,” Mohammad Atikur Rahman, one of the protesters, told dpa news agency.
A number of journalists’ cameras were taken away as they were beaten by the police, as per the reports by ruling Awami League party members.
The protesters were attacked by some people who were alleged to be linked to the ruling party activists with some of them armed with machetes, Dhaka’s Dhanmondi neighborhoods.
“The pro-government students attacked,” Hasan, a young protester, said.
“Then we broke the locks of a building and around 50 boys and girls took shelter there. And now the journalists helped us to leave the place. The police fired tear gas and used batons. The pro-government students also attacked and roughed up the girls,” he added.
As per the report by a journalist, reporting from Dhaka, there were clashes in different parts of the city during which students were injured.
He further said that the journalists’ were very much concerned about the behavior after the incident of several of its members over the past two days.
“This will be a major concern for covering any event in coming days,” he said.
All the telecommunications companies were directed to stop 3G and 4G services for a total period of 24 hours on late Saturday, the English-language Dhaka Tribune reported.
The restrictions were imposed soon after thousands of students started protesting in recent days to protest against poor road safety following the death of Diya Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib by the speeding bus a week ago.
Motorists were stopped in Dhaka and other parts of the country by the Demonstrators to check licenses and registrations resulting in traffic disruptions.
The protests, according to Shahidul Alam, famous photographer and social activist, were driven by larger factors than road safety alone.
He highlighted “the looting of the banks, the gaggling of the media, the extrajudicial killings, disappearings, bribery and corruption”.
“Today the police specifically asked for help from armed goons to combat unarmed students demanding safe roads,” said Alam.
“The government has miscalculated. It thought that fear and repression would be enough but you cannot tame an entire nation in this manner.”
After the interview with him, Alam was detained by police in Dhaka, local media reported.
The road safety measures in the muslim-dominated country is said to be very poor and there is no attempt by the government to take preventive measures.
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