At Least 104 Killed, 2,500 Injured Amid Anti-Quota Protests In Bangladesh; Over 300 Indian Students Return Home

The escalating crisis in Bangladesh has led to a mass exodus of Indian students, with more than 300 crossing into India via borders in Northeastern states on Friday.

The ongoing protests against quotas in jobs have resulted in over 100 people being killed amid clashes with security forces and pro-government activists.

For three weeks, Bangladesh has been gripped by protests that escalated on Monday (15 July) with violence at Dhaka University.

Six people were killed the next day, prompting the government to order the closure of universities across the country.

Many of the Indian students who returned were pursuing MBBS degrees and most of them were from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir.

They returned through two routes - the international land port at Akhurah near Agartala in Tripura and the international land port at Dawki in Meghalaya.

The students were foced to leave after an internet blackout and disrupted telephone services on Thursday (18 July), which cut-off them from their families.

Officials in Meghalaya said that over 200 Indians crossed the border due to the unrest, along with students from Bhutan and Nepal, NDTV reported.

The clashes, which have left at least 104 dead and over 2,500 injured, began last month following a high court ruling reinstating a 30 per cent job reservation for relatives of freedom fighters and veterans from Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Independence.

Critics argue that the quota, which was later suspended by the Bangladesh Supreme Court but the ruling has been challenged by the government, primarily benefits the ruling Awami League party led by PM Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

They accuse Hasina of rewarding party loyalists, thereby hindering job prospects for others.

On Wednesday (17 July), Hasina appeared on television to address protesters, who responded a day later by setting fire to a building owned by the state broadcaster which had telecast the speech.

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