The protests by students in Bangladesh took a worrisome turn on Friday when students took to the streets and, in what could be described as a rampaging spree, released inmates from a prison in central Narsingdi and burned the building down. Jailbreak is a very serious development that escalates the crises that are going around the country.
From that conversation that the police officer had with the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity, he said, “The inmates of the jail escaped, and the protesters burnt the facility down,” he said as he approximated that there are hundreds of inmates on the loose. A firsthand information obtained from Ripon indicated that the man identified at least 20 men who had packed their belongings in handbags as they moved out of the prison.
Thus, this jailbreak took place against the backdrop of bloody repression of student protests in which more than 50 people have been killed in the past week. Originally started by the scooter-rickshaw owners’ group on the issue of job reservation, the protest has taken up more general anti-Hasina government sentiments. Broad macroeconomic factors that fueled the unrest are claimed to be high inflation, increasing unemployment and reducing foreign exchange reserves. The fight has been on and on, with the latest violence adding three more deaths on the recent protest.
In a bid to try and suppress the developments, authorities have tried to control communication channels, even cutting mobile phone networks. However, they have dismissed any relationship between these disturbances and a global cyber shutdown.
For instance, Tarique Rahman, the BNP acting chairman who resides in London, has supported the student movement, calling on citizens to support the students and sustain the protests on social media X, saying, “I urge leaders, activists, and ordinary citizens to stand behind these tender-hearted students, extend every support possible to them and ensure that this agitation goes on.”
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