Dhaka
\nBangladesh\u2019s government called for a day of mourning Tuesday for victims of violence in nationwide unrest, but students denounced the gesture as disrespectful of classmates killed during clashes with police this month.
\nStudent rallies against civil service job quotas sparked days of violence that killed at least 206 people, including several police officers, according to an AFP count of police and hospital data.
\nThe clashes were some of the worst of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina\u2019s 15-year tenure but her government has since largely restored order with mass arrests, troop deployments and a nationwide internet shutdown that was rescinded on Sunday.
\nHer administration said the violence, destruction of government buildings and \u201cterrorist activities\u201d at the height of the unrest would be solemnly marked on Tuesday with prayers in mosques around the nation.
\nHowever, Students Against Discrimination, the group that organised the initial protests, said the government\u2019s announcement was intended to deflect blame for the death toll from police.
\n\u201cInstead of ensuring justice for the mass murders committed by the state forces, students have been cruelly mocked,\u201d Mahin Sarker, one of the group\u2019s coordinators, said in a statement.
\nMore than 10,000 people have been arrested in the wake of the unrest, according to the Daily Star newspaper, prompting criticism from rights groups of the extent of the police dragnet.
\n\u201cThe mass arrest and arbitrary detention of student protesters is a witch hunt by the authorities to silence anyone who dares to challenge the government,\u201d Amnesty International\u2019s Smriti Singh said in a statement.
\nTroops are still patrolling urban areas and a nationwide curfew remains in force, but the latter has been progressively eased since the start of last week in a sign of the government\u2019s confidence that it was in control.
\nProtests began this month over the reintroduction of a quota scheme reserving more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.
\nWith around 18 million young Bangladeshis out of work, according to government figures, the move deeply upset graduates facing an acute jobs crisis.
\nCritics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists of the ruling Awami League.
\nThe Supreme Court drastically cut the number of reserved jobs after the unrest but fell short of protesters\u2019 demands to scrap the most contentious aspects of the system.
\nHasina, 76, has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.
\nHer government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.
\nProtests had remained largely peaceful until attacks on demonstrators by police and pro-government student groups.
\n\u201cThere must be full accountability for the numerous instances of use of excessive and lethal force by the law enforcement authorities against protesters and others,\u201d EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement Tuesday.
\nHasina\u2019s government has accused opposition parties of hijacking the protests to cause unrest.
\nHome Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters at the weekend that security forces had operated with restraint but were forced to open fire to defend government buildings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dhaka Bangladesh\u2019s government called for a day of mourning Tuesday for victims of violence in nationwide unrest, but students denounced the gesture as disrespectful of classmates killed during clashes with police this month. Student rallies against civil service job quotas sparked days of violence that killed at least 206 people, including several police officers, according […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-421788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n