A NEW round of violence in Bangladesh has left more than 20 people dead and hundreds injured as student protesters clashed with police and ruling party activists today, officials and media reports said.

The demonstrators were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, following protests last month from students calling for an end to a quota system for government jobs which escalated into violence, leaving more than 200 dead.

Authorities closed schools and universities across the country, blocked internet access and imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew in response. At least 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.

Protesters called for “non-co-operation,” urging people not to pay taxes and utility bills or show up for work on Sunday, a working day in Bangladesh. Offices, banks and factories opened, but commuters in Dhaka and other cities faced challenges getting to work.

In Dhaka’s Uttara neighbourhood, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who blocked a major highway. 

Abu Hena, a hospital official in Munshiganj district near Dhaka, said two people had been declared dead after being rushed to a hospital with injuries.

Jamuna TV station reported another 21 deaths in 11 districts including Bogura, Magura, Rangpur and Sirajganj, where protesters backed by the country’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party clashed with police and activists from the ruling Awami League and its allies.

Premier Hasina’s administration has blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and now-banned right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party and their student wings for instigating violence.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of the main opposition party, repeated a call for the government to step down to stop the chaos.

Ms Hasina offered to talk with student leaders on Saturday, but a co-ordinator refused and instead announced a one-point demand calling on the prime minister to resign.