On Thursday, police in Bangladesh used tear gas to disperse protesters, and authorities temporarily cut mobile internet services amidst ongoing violent clashes that have resulted in six deaths and hundreds of injuries this week. In Dhaka, the capital, shops and offices remained open, though there were fewer buses due to a call for a nationwide shutdown by students. These students are demanding the abolition of a 30% reservation quota, a demand that saw minimal response.

In Chittagong, police fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing students blocking a major highway. Mobile services were halted across most of the country. Junior Information Technology Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak stated that the internet was suspended to curb rumors and stabilize the situation on social media, with services to be restored once normalcy returns.

The protests pose a significant challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, following her fourth consecutive term win in January's election, which was boycotted by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Students, frustrated by high youth unemployment affecting nearly 32 million people in a nation of 170 million, are pushing for the removal of the 30% reservation for families of freedom fighters.

The Supreme Court is set to hear the government's appeal on August 7 against a High Court decision to reinstate this reservation. Hasina has urged the students to wait for the court's verdict.

The violence escalated from nationwide clashes between thousands of protesters and the student wing of Hasina's ruling Awami League party, resulting in the deaths of three students on Tuesday. Despite the protests, Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh to independence, has not acceded to the protesters' demands. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, along with the United Nations and the United States, have called on Bangladesh to protect peaceful protesters from violence.