Watch: At least 100 students injured in Bangladesh anti-quota protests

Thousands of students staged a protest across Bangladesh which started on Sunday against discriminatory quotas for government jobs in favour of special groups which also left 100 students injured at the country’s top university left after clashes.

Hundreds of university students across Bangladesh blockaded roads on Tuesday in the third day of protests against what they say are discriminatory quotas for government jobs. Students took to the streets in Dhaka and elsewhere despite assurances from the government that it would review the controversial quota system.

The mass protests roiling campuses across the country have been among the biggest faced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her decade in power.

"We'll continue our agitation until the authorities accept our demands," said Rahat, one of the roughly 500 students camped out at the university's main square.

Following the violence that erupted on Sunday and continued into the early hours of Monday, classes at Dhaka University ground to a halt as thousands occupied the main square chanting “Reform, reform!” Students at state-run universities in Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur, Sylhet and Savar also boycotted classes and staged sit-ins, police and media said.

At Jahangirnagar University alone, more than 1,000 students joined the demonstrations, said Ataur Rahman, a protester in Savar where the university is located.

The students are angry at the government’s decision to set aside 56% of civil service jobs for the families of veterans from the 1971 war of independence and for disadvantaged minorities.

The Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, discussed the quota issue at its weekly meeting on Monday, said cabinet secretary Shafiul Alam. She has asked senior Minister Obaidul Quader to hold a meeting with the protest leaders, he said.

Hundreds of police patrolled key entry points to the campus.

Organisers in Dhaka said they had been holding peaceful protests on Sunday when police started firing tear gas and rubber bullets, and used batons and water cannon to clear a central square.

"More than 100 people were injured," police inspector Bacchu Mia told AFP, adding they were treated in hospital but their condition was not serious.

Protesters threw rocks, vandalised the home of the Dhaka University vice-chancellor, torched two cars and ransacked the fine arts institute, said senior police officer Azimul Haque.

Hasan Al Mamun, a leader of the protests, said tens of thousands of students joined the demonstrations nationwide. Police declined to estimate the number.

Al Mamun said the quota for top-grade jobs should be reduced to only 10 per cent.

"These quotas are discriminatory. Due to the quota system, 56 per cent of the jobs are set aside for five per cent of the country's population. And 95 per cent of the people can compete for the 44 per cent," he said.

Students are particularly upset at the 30 per cent quota set aside for descendants of veterans of the independence war.

(With inputs from agencies)