Over 300 Indian students return home as anti-quota protests in Bangladesh heat up

New Delhi, July 20: Over 300 Indian students in Bangladesh were forced to return home as the anti-quota protests, that have led to students and security forces clashing, resulted in the killing of at least 104 and injuring over 2,500 people so far.

The neighbouring nation has been witnessing widespread protests for weeks over the reintroduction of reservation in government jobs. Students, mostly hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Meghalaya and Jammu & Kashmir, returned by crossing border points in the northeast on Friday.

Taking a six-hour-long journey through cabs and security escorts, the students reached India from two main routes: the international land port at Akhurah near Agartala in Tripura and the international land port at Dawki in Meghalaya.

The near total internet shutdown and severely impacted telephone services disrupted the contact of Indian students with their families, prompting them to leave Bangladesh temporarily.

The clashes between students, government supporters and security forces began last month, however, the tensions escalated on Monday when students clashed at Dhaka University, killing six people on Tuesday and leading the government to close all the universities in the country.

The students, outraged by the high unemployment rate in the country, took to the streets demanding the quashing of the reinstatement of 30 per cent reservation quota for the families of veterans of the 1971 Independence War. The quota system in government jobs was scrapped in 2018 after a major student movement but was reinstated by a court in June.

On Wednesday, during an address to the nation, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asserted that there is an opportunity to resolve the issue through a legal process as the government has already appealed to the apex court against the court's verdict, and a hearing date has been fixed in the Appellate Division.

"It is a matter of sorrow that some vested quarters started making different kinds of statements and engaged in terrorist activities to gain their ambitious intentions centring on this movement. As the matter has been brought before the top court, I call upon all to keep patience," said the Bangladesh PM.