Over rising death toll
\nGroup\u2019s leader says they had not wanted reform \u201cat the expense of so much blood\u201d
\n DHAKA
\nThe Bangladeshi student group leading demonstrations that have spiralled into deadly violence suspended protests on Monday for 48 hours, with its leader saying they had not wanted reform \u201cat the expense of so much blood\u201d.
\nWhat began as demonstrations against politicised admission quotas for sought-after government jobs snowballed into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina\u2019s tenure.
\nA curfew has been imposed and soldiers are patrolling cities across the South Asian country, while a nationwide internet blackout since Thursday has drastically restricted the flow of information to the outside world.
\n\u201cWe are suspending the shutdown protests for 48 hours,\u201d Nahid Islam, the top leader of the main protest organiser Students Against Discrimination, told AFP from his hospital bed.
\nHe was being treated for his injuries after being beaten by people he accused of being undercover police, he said.
\n\u201cWe demand that during this period the government withdraws the curfew, restores the internet and stops targeting the student protesters.\u201d
\nOn Sunday, the Supreme Court pared back the number of reserved jobs for specific groups, including the descendants of \u201cfreedom fighters\u201d from Bangladesh\u2019s 1971 war. \u201cWe started this movement for reforming the quota,\u201d Islam said. \u201cBut we did not want quota reform at the expense of so much blood, so much killing, so much damage to life and property.\u201d
\nAt least 163 people have died in clashes, including several police officers, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals.
\nSporadic violence continued Monday, with four people brought to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital with bullet injuries, an AFP reporter at the scene saw. Government officials have repeatedly blamed the protesters and opposition for the unrest.
\nDhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP that \u201cat least 532\u201d people had been arrested in the capital since protests began, including some leaders of the opposition Bangladesh National Party.
\nAli Riaz, a professor of politics and leading Bangladesh expert at Illinois State University, described the violence as \u201cthe worst massacre by any regime since independence\u201d.
\n\u201cThe atrocities committed in the past days show that the regime is entirely dependent on brute force and has no regard for the lives of the people,\u201d he told AFP. \u201cThese indiscriminate killings cannot be washed by a court ruling or a government announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over rising death toll Group\u2019s leader says they had not wanted reform \u201cat the expense of so much blood\u201d DHAKA The Bangladeshi student group leading demonstrations that have spiralled into deadly violence suspended protests on Monday for 48 hours, with its leader saying they had not wanted reform \u201cat the expense of so much blood\u201d. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-419972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n