Crowds hit the streets in large numbers as student leaders press the government for more concessions
\n Dhaka
\nProtesters in Bangladesh have taken to the streets to demand justice for the more than 200 people killed in last month\u2019s student-led demonstrations over quotas in government jobs.
\nThe large protests on Saturday came as student leaders called for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign, heaping further pressure on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina\u2019s government.
\nReporting from Dhaka, Al Jazeera\u2019s Tanvir Chowdhury said clashes took place between protesters and police in the Gazipur and Comilla districts in the capital\u2019s outskirts.
\nHe added that the student movement had turned \u201cinto a public movement\u201c, noting that people from all walks of life had joined Saturday\u2019s protests calling for the government to resign.
\nHasina on Saturday called upon protest leaders to meet her at her official residence Ganabhaban, saying the \u201cdoor is open\u201d.
\n\u201cI want to sit with the agitating students of the movement and listen to them. I want no conflict,\u201d she said, according to local media.
\nThe prime minister has also appointed three senior officials to negotiate with the protesters, Chowdhury reported.
\nHowever, Students Against Discrimination, the group that organised the initial demonstrations in early July, has called for an all-out non-cooperation movement from Sunday.
\n\u201cThis includes non-payment of taxes and utility bills, strikes by government workers and a halt to overseas remittance payments through banks,\u201d the group\u2019s Asif Mahmud told AFP.
\nThe demonstrations began over the reintroduction of a quota scheme \u2013 since scaled back by Bangladesh\u2019s top court \u2013 that reserved more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.
\nWith some 18 million young Bangladeshis out of work, according to government figures, the move upset graduates facing an acute unemployment crisis.
\nThe protests had remained largely peaceful until attacks on demonstrators by police and pro-government student groups.
\nHasina\u2019s government eventually imposed a nationwide curfew, deployed troops and shut down the nation\u2019s mobile internet network for 11 days to restore order.
\nHome Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that security forces had operated with restraint but were \u201cforced to open fire\u201d to defend government buildings.
\nThe government has been weathering a worsening backlash over the deadly police crackdown that resulted in deaths of at least 200 people including 32 children, as well as hundreds of pellet gun injuries.
\nUN experts have called for an immediate end to the violent crackdown against protesters as well as accountability for human rights violations.
\nUN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk today called on the government to disclose full details about its crackdown on protests and to provide the details of those killed, injured or detained for the benefit of their families.
\nEuropean Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also called for an international probe into the \u201cexcessive and lethal force against protesters\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Crowds hit the streets in large numbers as student leaders press the government for more concessions Dhaka Protesters in Bangladesh have taken to the streets to demand justice for the more than 200 people killed in last month\u2019s student-led demonstrations over quotas in government jobs. The large protests on Saturday came as student leaders called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-422728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n