Bangladesh violence subsides after curfew imposed

Army chief General Moeen U. Ahmed has repeatedly said the military had no intention of grabbing power.

"We have reasons to believe him, and the recent unrest is purely a campus issue, unfortunately fuelled by vested political groups," said Syed Mohammad Shahabuddin, a senior banker and political observer in Dhaka.

Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, a defence analyst and retired army major-general, said the protests brought Bangladesh "back to the crossroads", urging the government to "carefully find out the best course to reinforce its huge successes."

"If the government fails to regain people's confidence... we cannot rule out the possibility of a martial law rule in the country," said Asif Nazrul, a law department teacher at Dhaka University, referring to past periods of military rule.

Students played a key role in previous political movements but the government has said it planned to ban student politics, or at least prevent students from working for the major parties.

That angered both the students and many teachers, education officials said, while the political parties have also supported them and repeated calls for an immediate end to a nationwide ban on political activity.

The Daily Star said: "Demands for immediate withdrawal of emergency, however desirable, should not have stemmed from the present situation... we urge upon all concerned to show maximum restraint and not try to exploit the situation for narrow gains."

(Additional reporting by Nizam Ahmed, Masud Karim and Ruma Paul)