Bangladesh protest: Sheikh Hasina govt to lift internet ban today amid warnings to resume agitation

Bangladesh is set to restore the country's mobile internet services later on Sunday following week-long blackout amid unrest, AFP reported citing telecommunications minister statement.

This development comes after nationwide blackout was imposed over a week ago to contain deadly unrest. In addition to this, the network would be restored on Tuesday at 3:00 pm (0900 GMT), following the restoration of fixed line broadband connections, AFP quoted Bangladesh's Awami League Politician and Telecommunications and Information Technology minister, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, as saying.

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At the same time, Bangladeshi student group vowed to resume agitation unless several of their leaders are released from custody on Sunday. As many as 205 people have been killed since the eruption of violence, which marks one of the most significant upheavals of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year tenure, reported AFP, citing police and hospital.

Meanwhile, Army patrols and a nationwide curfew are still in place. Its been more than a week since they were imposed. The lethal police crackdown to curb protests involved arrests of as many as 9,000 protesters among whom at least half a dozen were student leaders, according to Bangladesh's largest daily newspaper, Prothom Alo.

A campaign led by Members of Students Against Discrimination against reservation in civil service employment sparked protests. The student union said they would end their weeklong protest moratorium provided their demands were met. The government scheme proposed the reintroduction of quota reservation in over half of all government jobs for specific groups.

After subsequent protests, the Supreme Court reduced the number of reserved jobs last week from 56 per cent to seven per cent but failed to fulfil protesters' demands to abolish quotas entirely.

In an online briefing late Saturday, group spokesperson Abdul Hannan Masudsaid chief Nahid Islam and others “should be freed and the cases against them must be withdrawn,” reported AFP.

Also read: Bangladesh shuts down mobile internet for ’security’ reasons amid student protests

He further demanded “visible actions” against government ministers and police officers responsible for the deaths of protesters. Otherwise, he suggested, "Students Against Discrimination will be forced to launch tough protests" from Monday.