Bangladesh calls day of mourning for victims of unrest

Bangladesh's government called for a day of mourning Tuesday for victims of violence in nationwide unrest, but students denounced the gesture as disrespectful of classmates killed during clashes with police this month.

Student rallies against civil service job quotas this month sparked days of violence that killed at least 206 people, including several police officers, according to an AFP count of police and hospital data.

The clashes were some of the worst of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year tenure but her government has since largely restored order with mass arrests, troop deployments and a nationwide internet shutdown that was rescinded on Sunday.

Her administration said Tuesday would solemnly mark the violence, destruction of government buildings and "terrorist activities" at the height of the unrest with prayers in mosques around the nation.

However, Students Against Discrimination, the group that organised the initial protests, said the government's announcement was intended to deflect blame for the death toll from police.

"Instead of ensuring justice for the mass murders committed by the state forces, students (have been) cruelly mocked," Mahin Sarker, one of the group's coordinators, said in a statement.

More than 10,000 people have been arrested in the wake of the unrest, according to the Daily Star newspaper, prompting criticism from rights groups at the extent of the police dragnet.

"The mass arrest and arbitrary detention of student protesters is a witch hunt by the authorities to silence anyone who dares to challenge the government," Amnesty International's Smriti Singh said in a statement.

Protests began this month over the reintroduction of a quota scheme reserving more than half of all government jobs for certain groups.

With around 18 million young Bangladeshis out of work, according to government figures, the move deeply upset graduates facing an acute jobs crisis.

Critics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists of the ruling Awami League.

The Supreme Court drastically cut the number of reserved jobs after the unrest but fell short of protesters' demands to scrap the most contentious aspects of the system.

Hasina, 76, has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Her government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Protests had remained largely peaceful until attacks on demonstrators by police and pro-government student groups.

Hasina's government has accused opposition parties of hijacking the protests to cause unrest.