Bangladesh Deploys Border Force to Try to Quell Student Protests

Bangladesh deployed a paramilitary force on Tuesday after at least five people were killed during violent demonstrations by thousands of university students, raising the specter of instability in a country familiar with protests.

For weeks, students across Bangladesh have been protesting quotas for government jobs that were recently reinstated after being abolished in 2018 following another countrywide student protest.

Demonstrations intensified in recent days, with parts of the capital, Dhaka, blockaded and students refusing to attend classes. Even female students — who are not allowed out of their dorms after 9 p.m. — broke the rules to join the protests, a measure of the gravity of the situation.

The protests were first started by students of the University of Dhaka, the nation’s pre-eminent institution, and have spread to other universities and cities and turned increasingly political, pitting the ruling party against the opposition.

Members of the Border Guard of Bangladesh, which is normally responsible for border security, were sent to five districts across the country to control the “law and order situation amid ongoing quota reform movement,” according to a statement provided by the force.

Since the protests began roughly two weeks ago, hundreds of demonstrators have been injured in clashes with the police and with counter protesters. Citing the safety of students, government officials announced late on Tuesday that they would shut down most schools and colleges indefinitely. Facebook, the main social media platform that protesters used to organize and share news, was partially unavailable as of Tuesday night.