Crackdown on student protests sparks 'mass movement'

Hasan still has the metal pellets Bangladeshi police fired at him lodged deep in his bones. Fearful that he will join the growing ranks of those thrown behind bars for participating in protests that have swept Bangladesh in the past month, Hasan has been in hiding for a week and described his state as one of "constant panic and trauma".

- Redwan Ahmed in DHAKA and Hannah Ellis-Petersen in DELHI

"Whenever I hear the sound of a car or a motorbike, I think it might be the police coming for me," the 33-year-old telecommunications graduate said.

When Hasan joined the protests in the capital, Dhaka, early last month, they were a peaceful affair. Students across the country had mobilised to oppose the reintroduction of quotas for all government jobs, meaning 30% would go to descendants of those who fought in 1971's war of independence.

While the decision was made by the courts, it was seen by many as a thinly veiled political manoeuvre by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who has a tight grip over the judiciary. Supporters of her party, Awami League, which was born out of Bangladesh's independence fight, would benefit disproportionately from the quotas.

The move prompted widespread outrage among students who, already grappling with an economic downturn and high youth unemployment, saw one of their few chances of a stable civil service job being stolen.

But as support for the protests grew, a violent crackdown began in response. Campuses became bloody battlefields, leaving about 200 people dead and thousands injured.