Ten people died in clashes with police on Thursday in Dhaka — so far the highest toll in a single day — including a bus driver whose body was brought to a hospital with a bullet wound to his chest, a rickshaw-puller and three students, officials said.
Hundreds more were injured as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up protesters who torched vehicles, police posts and other establishments, witnesses said.
Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government was willing to hold talks with the protesters, but they refused, saying “discussions and opening fire do not go hand in hand”.
“We cannot trample over dead bodies to hold discussions. Discussions could have taken place earlier,” protest co-ordinator Nahid Islam said.
Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who led Bangladesh to independence, has so far rejected the demands of the protesters.
Earlier, police fired tear gas to scatter protesters near a Dhaka university campus and authorities cut some mobile internet services to limit the demonstrations.
Police also fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing students who blocked a highway in the southern port city of Chittagong.
The US Embassy in Dhaka said it would close on Thursday and advised its citizens to avoid demonstrations and large gatherings.
The Indian Embassy also issued a similar advisory. Authorities had shut all public and private universities indefinitely from Wednesday and sent riot police and the Border Guard paramilitary force to university campuses to keep order.
The Supreme Court will hear on August 7 the government’s appeal against a High Court verdict that ordered the reinstatement of the quota. Hasina has asked the students to be patient until the verdict.
Rights groups such as Amnesty International, as well as the United Nations and the United States, have urged Bangladesh to protect peaceful protesters from violence.
