Bangladesh PM blames protesters for city infrastructure damage
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"Over 15 years, I've built this country. What didn't I do for the people?" Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said.
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Bangladeshi military forces soldiers put up barbed wires on a main street in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP)
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday blamed protesters as she surveyed the destruction from days of deadly unrest, which killed at least 193 people, including several police officers.
The violence, one of the biggest upheavals of her 15-year tenure, was sparked by protests against a public jobs quota scheme seen as favoring her party's allies.
Thousands of troops continue to patrol cities, and a nationwide internet shutdown remains largely in effect. Hasina, 76, spent the morning surveying the damage in Dhaka, including a vandalized metro station, as reported by AFP.
"Over 15 years, I've built this country. What didn't I do for the people?" she said.
"Who has benefitted from what we have done? Do I ride on the metro? Does the government only ride? Do our ministers only ride? Or is it in fact the general public that rides?"
Read more: Bangladesh PM blames opposition for violence in anti-quota protests
With calm returning, the government relaxed curfew hours, and banks, government offices, and garment factories reopened.
Student leaders, who organized the protests, are set to decide on extending their moratorium on demonstrations.
Police reported 4,000 arrests since last week. UN rights chief Volker Turk called for an independent investigation into the violence.
"We understand that many people were subjected to violent attacks by groups reportedly affiliated with the Government, and no effort was made to protect them," Turk said in a statement.
Protests began after the reintroduction of a quota scheme for government jobs, angering graduates facing an acute jobs crisis. Critics argue the quota favors Hasina's party loyalists.
Hasina, in power since 2009, faces accusations of misusing state institutions to entrench her rule and suppress dissent.
Read more: Death toll surpasses 100 in Bangladesh anti-quota protests
