Bangladesh students mourn classmates killed in job quota protests

Dhaka: Bangladeshi students on Wednesday mourned classmates killed in protests over civil service hiring rules, a day after the government ordered the...

Dhaka: Bangladeshi students on Wednesday mourned classmates killed in protests over civil service hiring rules, a day after the government ordered the indefinite closure of schools nationwide to restore order.

Six people were killed Tuesday in clashes around the country as rival student groups attacked each other with hurled bricks and bamboo rods, and police dispersed rallies with tear gas and rubber bullets.

It was the most violent day so far in weeks of rallies demanding the end of a quota system for lucrative government jobs that opponents say unfairly benefits members of Bangladesh's ruling party.

Protesters had planned to gather to stage a public funeral ceremony for the dead at the capital Dhaka's main university but were stopped by riot police, who blocked entrance roads with barbed-wire barricades.

"Our protests will also continue no matter how much violence they can unleash on us," Chamon Fariya Islam, a student at the prestigious Dhaka University, told AFP.