Bangladesh premier surveys destruction as unrest recedes

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wept yesterday as she surveyed the destruction wrought by days of deadly unrest, as student leaders weighed the future of the protests that sparked the disorder.
Last week’s violence killed at least 193 people, including several police officers, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals, in one of the biggest upheavals of Hasina’s 15-year tenure.
The unrest was precipitated by protests against a public jobs quota scheme that critics say gives preference to allies of Hasina’s ruling party.
Thousands of troops are still patrolling cities and a nationwide Internet shutdown remains largely in effect, although clashes have subsided since protest leaders announced a temporary halt to new demonstrations.
Hasina, 76, spent the morning surveying destruction in the capital Dhaka, where the commuter rail network connecting the sprawling megacity of 20mn people was shut down after mob attacks.
“Over 15 years, I’ve built this country,” she told reporters, condemning protesters for damaging city infrastructure. “What didn’t I do for the people? “Who has benefitted from what we have done?” she said. “Do I ride on the metro? Does the government only ride? Do our ministers only ride? Or is it in fact the general public that rides?” Pictures released by Hasina’s office showed her flanked by an entourage and weeping at the sight of a vandalised metro station in an outlying Dhaka suburb. The station was among several government buildings and dozens of police posts torched or vandalised during the unrest.
With calm returning to cities around Bangladesh, Hasina’s government ordered another relaxation to the curfew it imposed at the weekend to allow free movement between 10am and 5pm.
Streets in Dhaka were choked with commuter traffic in the morning, days after ferocious clashes between police and protesters had left them almost deserted.
Banks, government offices and Bangladesh’s economically vital garment factories reopened on Wednesday after they were closed last week.
Student leaders met yesterday to decide whether to again extend their protest moratorium, which is due to expire today.
Students Against Discrimination, the group responsible for organising this month’s rallies, said it expected the government to make some concessions.