BBC:
Street protests are not new to this South Asian nation of 170 million people – but the intensity of the demonstrations of the past week has been described as the worst in living memory.
More than 100 people have died in the violence, with more than 50 people killed on Friday alone.
The government has imposed an unprecedented communications blackout, shutting down the internet and restricting phone services.
What started as peaceful protests on university campuses has now transformed into nationwide unrest.
Thousands of university students have been agitating for weeks against a quota system for government jobs.
A third of public sector jobs are reserved for the relatives of veterans from the country’s war for independence from Pakistan in 1971.
The students are arguing that the system is discriminatory, and are asking for recruitment based on merit.
Protest coordinators say police and the student wing of the governing Awami League – known as the Bangladesh Chhatra League – have been using brutal force against peaceful demonstrators, triggering widespread anger.
The government denies these allegations.
