What to Know About the Student Unrest in Bangladesh

Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens took to the streets on Thursday, joining students who have been agitating for weeks about a quota system for government jobs that benefits certain groups, including the descendants of those who fought for independence from Pakistan.

The protests have turned increasingly violent in recent days, resulting in a groundswell of anger against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after she unleashed a brutal crackdown by deploying the police and paramilitary forces to tame the protesters. As of Thursday, 17 people, most of them students, had been killed and hundreds of others injured. Large areas of Dhaka, the capital, remained empty, and the city shut down its only metro rail service.

Anisul Huq, the Bangladesh law minister, said on Thursday that the government was in favor of overhauling the quota system. Mr. Huq said the government would sit down with student leaders to find a resolution, although he added that the final decision would be made by the Supreme Court.

The protesters, who have launched counterattacks on the police, said they would not negotiate with the government. On Thursday, they targeted the headquarters of the national television station, setting fire to the building.

Here’s what to know about why the quota system has become such a point of contention.

What has happened so far in Bangladesh?

Students at the University of Dhaka, the country’s top institution, started the demonstrations on July 1, and they later spread to other elite universities. Initially peaceful, the protests turned violent when members of the pro-quota student wing of the governing party, the Awami League, began attacking the protesters, said Zahed Ur Rahman, a political analyst. Mr. Rahman added that the group’s assault on female students further inflamed the situation.