Bangladesh curfews, internet blackout batter economy amid quota protests

Transcript

00:00The protests and street violence may have ended for now, but police in Bangladesh are

00:04arresting more student protesters and opposition members.

00:08On Monday, student leaders made some new demands.

00:12Ensure security on all campuses and release all our students.

00:16I came here taking a great risk and I'm afraid.

00:19There are members of intelligence agencies everywhere following us.

00:23Once the media leaves, perhaps I could be even missing.

00:26A civilized and independent nation cannot run like this.

00:31The U.S. State Department, the United Nations, the European Union and several international

00:36rights bodies have condemned the recent violence and called for an investigation.

00:42The initial protests were against a government job quota system, but after the crackdown

00:47that followed, killed nearly 200 people and injured thousands more.

00:52Many are now demanding accountability.

00:55The capital city, Dhaka, remains calm but tense after days of student protests and clash

01:02with heavy presence of security forces.

01:06Stories of personal tragedies are also slowly starting to emerge.

01:11A detective team picked me up, blindfolded me and then later took me to a room in a building

01:16and interrogated me about the student protests and their strategies.

01:20They also mentally and physically tortured me until I became senseless.

01:26Last Saturday, 25-year-old college student Mominul Islam, who according to his family,

01:32was not involved in any protest, was caught in the middle and shot in the chest by police

01:37in the Mirpur area of Dhaka.

01:41I am a poor person and lost my only son to bullets.

01:45I hope no family goes through this.

01:48It's now not enough.

01:49Just accept our quota demand.

01:51Those who were killed, how they were killed and why they were killed must be accounted

01:55for first, and the government must answer this.

01:58The government blames the opposition and its allies for orchestrating the recent violence.

02:04Many government and public properties were burned and damaged, including Metrorail and

02:09Bangladesh State Television Centre.

02:12Today, as per the call of duty, the police force has stood up to protect the life and

02:17security of the people, government and public properties.

02:21Instead, what we saw is that the police forces themselves came under brutal attack.

02:27Many are calling on the government to hold an investigation and provide justice to the

02:32families of those who have been killed.

02:36Tanvi Chaudhry, Al Jazeera, Dhaka.

02:47Al Jazeera, Dhaka.