DHAKA: Bangladesh restored mobile internet services on Sunday afternoon, after 10 days of blackout due to violence triggered by student protests over government job quotas.
Junior Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak said the services resumed at 3 pm local time, Anadolu Agency reported.
He said that since customers were not able to use the packages they had paid for, users will get a 5 GB data bonus for three days.
The government had shut mobile internet on July 17 and broadband service on July 18 amid escalating violence during the protests. Broadband internet resumed on July 23, and a curfew imposed to handle the law and order situation has started to relax.
More than 200 people have been killed since July 16, according to independent estimates as the government has not yet released an official count. Schools and other educational institutions remain closed.
Clashes started on July 15 between the police and student protesters demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in the 1971 war of independence.
In the wake of the chaos, the Supreme Court ordered the government to scale back job quotas. The 30 per cent quota for veterans’ descendants was cut to 5 per cent, and quota for ethnic minorities, transgender people and disabled people was limited to 2 per cent. – Bernama, Anadolu
