DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) 鈥
At least five people were reported killed and dozens injured in Bangladesh on Tuesday as student protests against a government jobs quota led to violence around the country, media reports said.
Student protesters clashed with pro-government student activists and with police, and violence was reported around the capital of Dhaka, the southeastern city of Chattogram and the northern city of Rangpur. At least three of the dead were students, one was a pedestrian and one was not identified, media reports said, citing officials.
Protesters are demanding an end to a quota reserved for family members of veterans who fought in Bangladesh鈥檚 war of independence in 1971, which allows them to take up to 30% of government jobs.
They argue the quota is discriminatory, and should be replaced with a merit-based system. They also say it benefits supporters of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement. Ruling party leaders accuse the opposition of backing the protests.
Clashes broke out Monday at the country鈥檚 leading Dhaka University, with more than 100 students injured, police said. Violence spread overnight to Jahangir Nagar University in Savar, outside Dhaka, and was reported elsewhere around the country on Tuesday.
Bengali-language Prothom Alo daily reported that one person died in Dhaka and three others, including the pedestrian, in Chattogram. Media reports also said that a 22-year-old protester died in Rangpur. Details of the deaths could not be confirmed immediately.
While job opportunities have expanded in Bangladesh鈥檚 private sector, many people prefer government jobs because they are seen as stable and lucrative. Each year, some 3,000 such jobs open up to nearly 400,000 graduates.
Hasina defended the quota system Tuesday, saying that the veterans 鈥 commonly known as 鈥渇reedom fighters鈥 鈥 should receive the highest respect for their sacrifice in 1971 regardless of their current political affiliation.
鈥淎bandoning the dream of their own life, leaving behind their families, parents and everything, they joined the war with whatever they had,鈥 she said during an event at her office in Dhaka.
At Jahangir Nagar University early Tuesday, violence broke out when protesters gathered at the vice chancellor鈥檚 residence. Demonstrators accused the Bangladesh Chhatra League, a student wing of the Awami League, of attacking their protests. Local media reports said police and ruling party-backed students attacked the protesters.
But Abdullahil Kafi, a senior police official, told the country鈥檚 leading English-language newspaper, Daily Star, that protesters attacked police and that officers retaliated with tear gas and blank rounds. He said up to 15 police officers were injured.
More than 50 people were treated at Enam Medical College Hospital near Jahangir Nagar University as the violence continued for hours, hospital medical officer Ali Bin Solaiman said. He said at least 30 of the victims suffered pellet wounds.
Protesters also blocked highways and railways in Dhaka and elsewhere across the country.
Swapon, a Dhaka University student protester who gave only his first name, said students want a 鈥渞ational鈥 reform of the quota program. He said that if he can鈥檛 find a job after studying for six years, 鈥渋t will cause me and my family to suffer.鈥
Protesters have said they are apolitical, but ruling parties have accused opposition parties of backing the demonstrations for political gain.
A ruling party-backed student activist at Dhaka University, who declined to give his name, told The Associated Press that protesters and militant supporters of the opposition鈥檚 Bangladesh 春色直播ist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami party had vandalized rooms in student dormitories.
The quota system had temporarily been halted following a court order after mass student protests in 2018. But last month, Bangladesh鈥檚 High Court nullified that decision, reinstating the quota system once more, angering scores of students and triggering protests.
Last week, the Supreme Court suspended the High Court鈥檚 order for four weeks, and the chief justice asked protesting students to return to classes, saying the court would issue a decision in four weeks. However, the protests have continued daily.
The quota system also reserves government jobs for women, disabled people and ethnic minority groups, but students have only protested against jobs reserved for veterans鈥 families.
Prime Minister Hasina maintained power in an election in January that was boycotted by opposition parties due to Hasina鈥檚 refusal to step down and allow a caretaker government to oversee the election.
Her Awami League party, under her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the independence war with the help of India. Rahman was assassinated along with many family members in a military coup in 1975.
In 1971, the Jamaat-e-Islami party -- which shared power with the Bangladesh 春色直播ist Party led by Hasina鈥檚 archrival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, in 2001-2006 鈥 openly opposed the independence war. It formed groups that helped the Pakistani military fight pro-independence forces.
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Associated Press video journalist AL Emrun Garjon contributed to the report.
