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Amid protests in Bangladesh against job quotas, Indian students have been returning to India through Tripura. The Border Security Force (BSF) assisted in the return of as many as 100 students with valid documents on Saturday. The students also include citizens from Nepal, and more students are expected to come back.
Patel Piyush Purushottam Das, IG, BSF, Tripura Frontier, has assured all possible assistance to such students and has further spoken to the Border Guards Bangladesh authorities for cooperation from their end. The BSF has made all necessary arrangements, including refreshments and transport, at the integrated check post (ICP) to facilitate the smooth arrival and further movement of these students to their destinations. Bangladesh announced a nationwide curfew on Friday evening after clashes between police and various student groups in which dozens of people were killed, as reported by The Washington Post. The protests in Bangladesh have been driven by demands for reform of the country's quota system for civil service jobs, which reserves positions for specific groups, including descendants of those who participated in the 1971 War of Independence against Pakistan. The protests started after students violently reacted against a new policy to reserve a portion of government jobs for descendants of the nation's freedom fighters. Protesters attacked the state television headquarters in Dhaka and set fire to police booths on Thursday as they called for a "complete shutdown" of the country. Following the curfew, the authorities have also shut down schools and universities indefinitely, and mobile and internet services have been disabled nationwide, as reported by The Washington Post. The India High Commission in Dhaka has been coordinating with local authorities in Bangladesh to provide adequate security to students who are keen on travelling to India, sources said on Friday. The Indian mission, in coordination with BSF and the Bureau of Immigration, is facilitating Indian students who are travelling back to India from Bangladesh. (ANI)
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