Bangladesh on the brink: how student protests became a mass movement
Protests in Bangladesh that began as student-led demonstrations against government hiring rules have spiralled into violence killing more than 260 people and sparking widespread calls for the premier to resign.
Here are five key dates spanning the protests posing a daunting challenge to the autocratic rule of 76-year-old Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, leader of the South Asian nation of about 170 million people.
— July 1: Blockades begin -
University students build barricades blocking roads and railway lines to demand reforms of a quota system for sought-after public sector job hires.
They say the scheme is used to stack the civil service with loyalists of Hasina's ruling Awami League.
Hasina, who won a fifth term as prime minister in January after a vote without genuine opposition, says the students are «wasting their time».
— July 16: Violence intensifies -
The first recorded deaths are six people killed in clashes, a day after bitter violence when protesters and pro-government supporters in Dhaka fought with sticks and hurled bricks at each other.
Hasina's government orders the nationwide closure of schools and universities.
— July 18: PM rebuffed -
Students reject an olive branch from Hasina, a day after she appeals for calm and vows that every «murder» in the protests would be punished.
Protesters chant «down with the dictator» and torch the headquarters of state broadcaster Bangladesh Television and dozens of other government buildings.
The government imposes an internet blackout.
At least 32 people
