Protesting students in Bangladesh set the country's state broadcaster ablaze on Thursday, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina appeared on the network seeking to calm the escalating clashes that have killed at least 32 people and left over 2,500 injured. University students in Dhaka and other cities have been holding rallies for more than a week protesting the system of reservation in public sector jobs, including that for the relatives of war heroes, who fought for the country's independence from Pakistan in 1971.


Hundreds of protesters demanding reform of civil service hiring rules, laid a siege on the state-run Bangladesh Television Bhaban in the Rampura area in Dhaka and damaged its front side, torched several parked vehicles while some staff including journalists were trapped inside. 


"Many people" were trapped inside as the fire spread, the broadcaster said in a Facebook post, but an official from the station later told news agency AFP that they had safely evacuated the building.


"The fire is still going on," the official said. "We have come out to the main gate. Our broadcast has been shut down for now."


Hasina Calls For Peace


The premier appeared on the broadcaster on Wednesday night to condemn the "murder" of protesters and vow that those responsible will be punished regardless of their political affiliation. Hasina's government also ordered schools and universities to close indefinitely as police step up efforts to bring the country's deteriorating law and order situation under control.


But violence worsened on the streets despite her appeal for calm. Private Somoy Television channel said police continued to use rubber bullets, tear gas, and sound grenades to disperse the protesters. The major clashes between protesters and police erupted in the Uttara area of the capital where several private universities are located. 


At least 25 people were killed on Thursday in addition to seven killed earlier in the week, according to a tally of casualty figures from hospitals compiled by news agency AFP.


Protestors' Demands


Near-daily marches this month have demanded an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.


A spokesman of the protesters earlier said they no longer seek dialogue with the government and Nazmul Hassan, one of the coordinators said, “Instead, we demand the immediate issuance of a gazette notification cancelling quotas in government jobs," according to a report by PTI. 


Fifty-six per cent of government jobs are reserved under the current quota system. A maximum 30 per cent is for the descendants of the 1971 Liberation War freedom fighters, 10 per cent for backward administrative districts, 10 per cent for women, five per cent for ethnic minority groups and one per cent for physically challenged people. 


Every year some 3,000 government jobs open up to nearly 4,00,000 graduates. The protestors are waging a campaign for the reform of the system saying it debars meritorious students’ recruitment in first-class and second-class government jobs. 


Protestors also demanded an apology from the Prime Minister. "Our first demand is that the prime minister must apologise to us," protester Bidisha Rimjhim, 18, told AFP.


"Secondly, justice must be ensured for our killed brothers," she added.


Govt Call For Dialogue


Bangladesh's Law minister Anisul Huq, meanwhile, told a media briefing on Thursday that the government decided to sit in a dialogue with protesting students and that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had entrusted him and Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury with the task of the discussion. 


The law minister said, as promised by the prime minister on Wednesday, a judicial investigation committee was formed on Thursday with High Court judge Khondkar Diliruzzaman as its head to enquire into the killing in violence. He also urged them to call off the protest. 


But Students Against Discrimination, the main group behind this month's rallies, said the premier’s words were insincere and “it did not reflect the murders and mayhem carried out by her party activists.”