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The curfew was imposed at midnight on Friday and was expected to last till Sunday morning. However, there have been no announcements that the curfew will be lifted read more
 "Police given ‘shoot-on-sight’ orders as clashes become deadlier")
Anti-quota protesters clash with the police in Dhaka. AFP
As the death toll in the quota system protests continues to rise, reports are emerging that Bangladesh police have been granted “shoot-on-sight” orders to take control of the riot-like situation. The authorities have already imposed a nationwide curfew, blocking internet and telephone services across the country.
The curfew was imposed at midnight on Friday and was expected to last till Sunday morning. However, there have been no announcements that the curfew will be lifted. Not only this, but all the news outlets across the country have not been able to publish any news report since July 19, making it difficult to know what is happening in the country.
The curfew in question was lifted briefly on Saturday afternoon to allow the public to run errands. During the curfew, the government asked people to remain at home and banned all sorts of gatherings and demonstrations. While the government did not release the official number of fatalities, local media estimated that at least 115 people have been killed in the whole ordeal.
‘No longer a protest but a civil war’
After the curfew was announced the Bangladesh police were given the order that in “extreme cases,” they have the power to fire on those violating the curfew, confirmed Obaidul Quader, the general secretary of the ruling Awami League party, The Guardian reported.
With the growing discontent, many believe the protest has become something bigger. Shafkat Mahmud, 28, a student protester from Uttara, a neighbourhood of Dhaka told The Guardian that the ongoing protests were no longer just a student protest, but nationwide civilian unrest akin to “civil war”.
Mahmud alleged that after the government shut down the internet on Thursday night, police had gone from using rubber bullets to live ammunition. He also mentioned that he and fellow protesters had been attacked by pro-government supporters, alleging that some of them used machetes and guns and had seen buses carrying away the dead in the aftermath.
“Since the government’s forces have been violently attacking us, our families have joined us in protests,” he said. “Our fight initially was about quotas but after witnessing the brutality and cruelty with which the police attacked the protesters, it’s now about change. We are marching for this government to step down," the protester furthered.
According to the people on the ground, Friday was the deadliest day of the protests so far, with police being accused of firing live ammunition at demonstrators, The Guardian reported. At least 40 people were likely to have been killed in the violence.
With inputs from agencies.
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