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Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday asked all concerned including cabinet members and government officials to remain alert against ‘rumours’ over  violence during the student movement for quota reforms in civil service recruitment.

Presiding over the weekly cabinet meeting at her Tejgaon office, she said that some quarter was hatching conspiracy against the ruling Awami League hiding behind the quota movement as the demand of the protesting students for reforming the quota system was already resolved, according to a minister.

The cabinet, however, decided to observe nationwide mourning today in memory of those killed during the recent violence.

‘The cabinet has approved a proposal to observe nationwide mourning for Tuesday in memory of those killed in violence during the quota movement. People will wear black badges and offer special prayers at mosques, temples, and pagodas seeking divine blessings for the deceased,’ cabinet secretary Md Mahbub Hossain told a briefing at the secretariat later on the day.

Responding to a question, he said that the official death toll from the violence rose to 150 as deaths of three more people were confirmed.

Asked whether it was discussed how so many people were killed during the violence, he avoided giving further details. 

The cabinet secretary said that several ministers made presentations on the damage caused to various government establishments under their respective ministries in the violence.

Secretaries to all divisions and ministries were asked to be present in the meeting, according to an official. 

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan briefed the cabinet about the developing situation and the role of law enforcement agencies during the time to restore normalcy, while law minister Anisul Huq apprised them of legal steps taken by the government in resolving the students’ demand for reforming the quota system, said the minister.

He said that the law enforcement agencies were asked to identify all those involved in violence during the student movement and bring them to book without delay.

On Sunday, the government at last disclosed that 147 people, including ordinary people, students, police, and ruling Awami League activists, were killed in Dhaka and across the country in violence during the quota reform protests. 

The home minister came up with the official figure of deaths amid widespread criticism at home and abroad for not giving any data on casualties from the violence that happened a week ago.

The student protests turned violent on July 15 after the student wing of the ruling Awami League, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, attacked the protesters on the Dhaka University campus in presence of the police.

The resulting backlash prompted the government to launch a crackdown on protesters, leaving at least 213 killed in clashes and the aftermath between July 16 and July 29.

The Student Movement Against Discrimination, a platform of protesting students, on Saturday shared a list of 266 people killed during the protests which could not be verified independently.

The government imposed a nationwide curfew for an indefinite period at midnight past July 19 with breaks depending on districts and called in the Bangladesh Army to restore calm.

Law enforcement agencies have already launched block raids and arrested nearly 10,000, mostly leaders and activists of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, in a special drive across the country.

Monday’s cabinet meeting gave the final approval to the Moheshkhali-Kutubdia Integrated Development Authority Bill, 2024 by incorporating Kutubdia in its jurisdiction, the cabinet secretary said. 

He said that the cabinet also endorsed ratifications of the ‘Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand on Visa Exemption for Holders of Official Passports’ and the ‘Agreement for Cooperation in the Legal Field’ signed between Bangladesh and Qatar.

The cabinet also approved the draft bilateral air service agreement to be signed with India in keeping with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s new format without changing the terms and conditions in the deal signed between the two countries in 1978, said the cabinet secretary.