India asks citizens to avoid travel to Bangladesh amid anti-quota protest

The Indian Authorities on Thursday issued an advisory to its citizens and students in Bangladesh, asking them to restrict movement outside their living premises. The advisory comes in the wake of the ongoing anti-quota violence across parts of the country. They also asked people, living in India, not to travel to Bangladesh.

India also issued some 24-hour emergency contact numbers. On Wednesday, student protesters demanding reforms in the quota system in government jobs announced plans to enforce a complete nationwide shutdown on Thursday (today) in response to the actions of the security forces.

The clashes left at least six people, including four students, dead across the country. A key coordinator of the movement, Asif Mahmud, in a Facebook post, said all establishments, barring hospitals and emergency services, will remain closed, and only ambulance services will be permitted to operate.

The movement urges students from all educational institutions to participate and calls on guardians to support their cause. Meanwhile, authorities called out the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) troops in four major cities after hundreds of policemen in riot gear fanned out in public university campuses across the country.