India warns its citizens in Bangladesh to avoid travel due to protests & violence

India advises citizens in Bangladesh to restrict movement due to violent protests over government job quotas. Six deaths reported as demonstrations spread across cities. Bangladesh closes educational institutions, while Indian missions offer assistance to nationals amid ongoing unrest.

As tensions rise in Bangladesh, the Indian government has warned its citizens in the country to reduce their mobility and refrain from travelling. This is in the wake of six people who were killed during violent protests over government job quotas.

The Indian high commission in Dhaka issued the advisory on Thursday, 18 July 2024 as the protests extended to several cities within Bangladesh. These have been mainly student protests that have forced the Bangladesh government to shut down schools and universities across the country.

“The travel and mobility of Indian community members and students residing in Bangladesh should be limited and avoided going out of their living premises,” the advisory read. It also listed the Indian missions in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet to seek help in case of an emergency.

At present, there are around ten thousand Indians in Bangladesh out of which seven thousand are students. Most of these students including those from the University of Kashmir are taking medical programs.

The protests relate to calls to abolish a quota system that allocates more than 50% of civil service positions to certain stakeholders, such as children of independence war heroes. However, skeptics opine that these reservations are mostly advantageous to the groups affiliated to the ruling Awami League party.

Violence emerged on Tuesday as activists engaged in confrontations with loyalist students across different cities. The Police resorted to tear and rubber bullets to chase the crowds away. Casualties occurred in Dhaka, Chittagong and Rangpur.

The unrest has prompted Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to order the law and education ministers to open dialogue with protesters. At the same time, the protest goes on and people remain confined to their homes all across the country.

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The conflict continues between the Bangladesh government and the protest leaders as both strive to find the solution to the ongoing conflict.