Bangladeshi students held scattered street protests on Monday after the government ignored an ultimatum to release the quota reform movement leaders and apologise for those killed in deadly unrest.
Student rallies against civil service job quotas this month sparked days of violence that killed at least 205 people including several police officers, according to an AFP count of police and hospital data.
The clashes were some of the worst of Prime Minister Hasina's 15-year tenure but her government has since largely restored order by deploying troops, imposing a curfew and shutting down the internet nationwide, reports AFP.
At least half a dozen leaders of Students Against Discrimination, the group that organised the initial protests, are among thousands since taken into police custody.
"The government is continuing to show complete and utter insensitivity to our movement," Abdul Kader, one of the group's coordinators, said in a statement.
"We are requesting all citizens of Bangladesh to show solidarity with our demands and join in our movement,” he said.
On Sunday, the six movement coordinators, who are in custody of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), had announced the withdrawal of all protest activities.
But other coordinators vowed to end a week-long moratorium on new nationwide demonstrations on Monday amid a relaxed curfew, if police failed to release their leaders by Sunday evening.
The group's demands also include a public apology from the prime minister for the violence, the dismissal of several ministers, and the reopening of schools and universities around the country that were shuttered at the height of the unrest.
It was announced on social media that protest programmes will be on Monday in eight spots — Science Lab, Gate No 8 of North South University, National Press Club, BNS Center in Uttara, Mirpur-10, ECB Chatter in Mirpur, Rampura and Mohakhali — of Dhaka.
Additional personnel of police and other law enforcement agencies were deployed on the key areas and intersections of the city on Monday morning. Border Guard Bangladesh personnel were also deployed in Dhaka and elsewhere to ensure maximum security.
Besides, army personnel are still guarding the important areas of the city amid the curfew.
Several protests were staged in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere in Bangladesh on Monday, but they were only a fraction of the size of those seen earlier in the month.
In Dhaka, quota reform activists tried to demonstrate at Mirpur-10, ECB Chatter, Badda and Dhanmondi, among several other areas, but they were blocked and dispersed by police. Many were detained at the time from the scenes.
DMP Assistant Police Commissioner (Badda Zone) Rajan Kumar Saha told reporters that the quota protesters have called off their programme. “Those trying to take to streets now are miscreants. We are there to prevent them. We are taking measures to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.”
Police charged with batons to break up one protest on Dhaka's outskirts, arresting at least 20 people, newspaper Daily Prothom Alo reported.
Security forces were deployed widely elsewhere in the teeming megacity of 20 million to deter other demonstrations.
'Back to normalcy'
Troops are still patrolling urban areas and a nationwide curfew remains in force but it has been progressively eased since the start of last week.
Bangladesh's mobile internet network was restored on Sunday, 11 days after a nationwide blackout imposed at the height of the unrest, in another sign of the government's confidence that it was in control of the situation.
"The situation is turning back to normalcy thanks to the timely and appropriate measures taken by the government and the people," the foreign ministry said in a Sunday statement.
The government also declared a day of national mourning on Tuesday for those who were killed during the unrest.
Protests began this month over the reintroduction of a quota scheme reserving more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.
At least 9,000 people have been arrested nationwide since the unrest began, according to Prothom Alo.
The Supreme Court cut the number of reserved jobs last week but fell short of protesters' demands to scrap the quotas entirely.
Protests had remained largely peaceful until attacks on demonstrators by police and pro-government student groups. The government has accused opposition parties of hijacking the protests to cause unrest.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters Sunday that security forces had operated with restraint but were "forced to open fire" to defend government buildings.
