By Omer Abdullah
Despite the state crackdown on the protesting students and shutdown of all educational institutions throughout the country, on Wednesday, July 17th, hundreds of students gathered in Dhaka University to pay their respect at the public funeral of the six fellow students who had fallen the previous day. At least 105 protestors have been killed so far by the state forces including the paramilitary, and the videos being shared on social media depict a civil war like situation emerging in the country. Students across Bangladesh are grieving, but their anger and grief is also fueling the heroic movement of resistance and defiance. As these lines are being written, the protestors set fire to the state broadcasting station, moments after the despotic prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid appeared on the state television. In another incident, the Rapid Action Battalion police force reported rescuing 60 policemen from Canadian University via helicopter. Such is the extent of rage and the will to fight the brutal dictatorship of Hasina Wajid. As reported by the Guardian, the government has now declared a national curfew and announced plans to deploy the army to tackle the country’s worst unrest in a decade, after student protesters stormed a prison and freed hundreds of inmates. Moreover, earlier on Friday, a communications blackout was imposed across the country, with mobile internet access and social media blocked by the government. See video footage HERE and HERE . Read this full article in Asian Marxist Review HERE.