Blitz Bureau
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “calm and restraint” as students resumed their protests that were suspended last week, according to his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. Guterres “remains deeply concerned about the situation in Bangladesh”, Dujarric said on July 29 at his daily briefing. “He notes reports of the resumption of student protests today and reiterates his call for calm and restraint,” Dujarric said.
UN raises concern
The UN has raised its concern with “relevant authorities, both in the capital, Dhaka, and here in New York, and we count on Bangladesh to respect and uphold human rights, including as a top troop-contributing country to United Nations peacekeeping missions”, he added. The students had been protesting against a 30 per cent reservation in government jobs for relatives of freedom fighters who wrested independence for Bangladesh from Pakistan in a bloody civil war in which, according to Dhaka officials, 3 million people were killed in the genocide by Pakistani troops and their supporters.
After the Supreme Court slashed the reservations to 5 per cent, student leaders last week put the protests on hold. But the demonstrations resumed on July 29 because the students said that the government ignored their demand to release all their leaders.
