Bangladesh students defy orders, occupy universities as tensions spiral

Students and police are locked in a tense standoff on campuses across the country as a deadline for protesters to vacate universities looms.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Armed with sticks and cricket stumps, Mahin Sarkar stood guard at the gates of Dhaka University with fellow students. Anyone who wanted to enter had to show them identification proving they were from the university.

Just outside the gates, several police platoons were positioned, one police officer said on condition of anonymity, to “prevent any further acts of vandalism”.

On Wednesday afternoon, Bangladesh’s oldest functioning university was a fortress with opposing forces stationed on either side of the gates and the prospect brewing of the tense standoff descending into clashes.

The government ordered all schools and colleges shut down on Tuesday, a day after nationwide protests against a quota for government jobs turned violent with student activists of the ruling Awami League engaging in street fights against demonstrators and riot police unleashing tear gas. At least six people have died, and hundreds have been injured in the clashes, most of which occurred near or inside university campuses, the central hubs of protests against a quota system that many students insist is discriminatory.

More than half – 56 percent – of government jobs are reserved for descendants of Bangladeshis who fought for independence from Pakistan, women, people from districts with poor socioeconomic indices, ethnic minorities and people with physical disabilities. The student protesters oppose the quota for veterans’ families.

Yet hours after the order demanding that students vacate university premises, many students have refused to leave. Instead, they have hunkered down in their