Bangladesh unrest: Students vow to resume agitation if their leaders are not freed

A students group in Bangladesh on Sunday (Jul28) vowed toresume protests that sparked a lethal police crackdown and nationwide unrest iftheir leaders are not released from custody. Members ofStudents Against Discrimination, whose campaign against civil service job quotas precipitated the unrest, said they would end their weeklong protest moratorium.

Addressing a press conference online,Students Against Discrimination's memberAbdul Hannan Masud demanded that the group's chief Nahid Islam, and others should be freed from detention and the cases against them must be withdrawn.

On Friday, Islam and two other student leaderswere forcibly discharged from the hospital where they were admittedand taken away by a group of plainclothes detectives. The government said that thethree were taken into custody for their own safety.

A warning

Masud,who did not disclose his location because he was in hiding from authorities, said on Sunday that visible actions must be taken againstgovernment ministers and police officers responsible for the deaths of protesters.

"Otherwise, Students Against Discrimination will be forced to launch tough protests from Monday," he added.

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Last week's violence in Bangladesh killedat least 205 people and injured thousands of others.

Army patrols and a nationwide curfew remain in place more than a week after they were imposed, and a police dragnet has scooped up thousands of protesters, including at least half a dozen student leaders.

State media reported that at least9,000 people have been arrested nationwide since the unrest began.

Mobile internet to be restored

Telecommunications MinisterZunaid Ahmed Palak, meanwhile, said on Sunday thatmobile internet would be restored later on Sundaymore than a week after a nationwide blackout was imposed to contain the deadly unrest.

Palak said the network would be restored at 3 pm local time, following the restoration of fixed-line broadband connections on Tuesday.

(With inputs from agencies)