Demonstration Demands Bangladeshi PM To Resign Ended In Clashes With Police, 20 People Injured

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina/PHOTO via Wikimedia Commons/DelwarHossain

JAKARTA - It was reported that 20 people were injured in the clashes of protesters demanding Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resign.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the masses as thousands protested in the Bangladeshi capital and other regions of the country on Friday, August 2.

Protesters are demanding justice for families of 150 people who died in violence during last month's protests over the occupation quota system.

Dozens of youths demonstrated in Dhaka as they chanted 'we want justice' and fly anti-government banners.

Elsewhere, buildings including the district office of the ruling Awami League party were burned, the police station was burned, and armored vehicles were damaged during the demonstration.

Police said they fired rubber bullets and tear gas as the masses attacked the northeastern city of Habibganj.

Officers also threw stun grenades to disperse protesters in the nearby town of Sylhet. A witness in Sylhet said about 20 people were injured.

They set fire to the local Awami League office and several other government offices and burned motorbikes, Khalilur Rahman, a police official in Habiganj, said.

The current riots are the biggest test Hasina has faced since the deadly protests when she won her fourth consecutive term in the January election which was boycotted by the main opposition of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Student groups led a demonstration last month against a government quota, including 30 percent reservation for a family of 1971 independence war veterans from Pakistan.

The demonstration turned violent that killed 150 people, injured thousands of people and caused about 10,000 people to be arrested.

Protests stalled after the Supreme Court canceled most of the quota.

Students took to the streets again in a sporadic protest this week, demanding justice for their families who were killed.

Criticism of Hasina and human rights groups accuses her government of using excessive force to eradicate the movement.

"People make mistakes. If he (Hasina) apologizes, things will return to normal. If he can't control it, things will continue to heat up," said Syed Sadman, a student.