Quotes
We are giving an ultimatum to the government to fulfill our eight-point demand within 48 hours,
one of the Movement's leaders, Hasnat Abdullah, told reporters Normalcy will return within one or two days,
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters When I regained consciousness I found myself lying on the streets,
The court said the quota issue is a policy decision of the government and the authorities can change the ratio of the quotas if they want,
Unfortunately, the victims of the quota movement won't have justice, definitely not under the present government,
If the government maintains its severe clampdown and continues to arrest protest leaders, that will make it tough to keep up the movement. And yet, such actions would also further intensify the public anger and grievances, creating another potential powder keg for the government,
We want to see how fast the government is, and whether it reforms quotas for all government jobs or not. We will react based on the percentage of quotas the government announces,
Opposition political parties tried to topple the government by taking advantage of the situation. But, their attempt failed,
M. A. Mannan, a ruling Awami League party parliamentarian and ex-planning minister, told DW Until a law is passed by the parliament, it will remain the prerogative of the executive branch to change it at some point. But the court decision smacks of the executive branch's influence. What ensures that this cannot be changed in the future
In reality, this court decision is not the exit ramp that Dhaka thinks it can be. The government appears to be tone-deaf and not fully appreciating the depth of the anger in the streets, which has morphed into a rage directed at far more than the quota system,
Her aura of invincibility— the idea that she can maintain control and keep any dissent in check — has been shattered. Her legitimacy, already fragile after returning to power in an election boycotted by the opposition, has been greatly weakened,
Violence spread and lives were lost because the government was not expecting such a reaction around the country. The ruling party was quite complacent after the January election and thought it was invincible,
I am mentally traumatized ... our unity is being destroyed,
We started this movement for reforming the quota,
We are suspending the shutdown protests for 48 hours,
Nahid Islam, the top leader of the main protest organiser Students Against Discrimination, told AFP from his hospital bed Bangladesh has been engulfed in a crisis that only seems to get worse with each passing day,
There must be investigations into the killings that have taken place already,
the 83-year-old said in a statement, his first public comments since the unrest began We won't call off our protests until the government issues an order reflecting our demands."
A spokesman for Students Against Discrimination, the main group responsible for organising the protests, told AFP At least 532 people have been arrested over the violence" since the unrest began
Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP They include some BNP leaders,
he added, referring to the opposition Bangladesh National Party