Police in Dhaka tried in vain to stop thousands of young protesters from blocking roads around the megacity for the second time in as many days.
Footage aired by local broadcaster Jamuna TV showed several protesters mounting a police vehicle and hundreds of others dismantling a police barricade.
“WE WILL NOT LEAVE”
In the port city of Chittagong, police charged hundreds of protesters with batons in an attempt to prevent them from marching on a major road, witnesses told AFP.
“Police tried to stop us from holding our protests,” Dipa, a student from the city who did not give her last name, told AFP.
“We will not leave the road until our demand is met.”
Students are demanding that only those quotas supporting ethnic minorities and disabled people – six per cent of jobs – should remain.
Bangladesh’s top court on Wednesday temporarily suspended the quotas, but protesters have vowed to continue until the parts of the scheme they oppose are scrapped completely.
Critics say the system benefits children of pro-government groups who back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina, 76, won her fourth consecutive general election in January, in a vote without genuine opposition parties that saw a major crackdown against her political opponents, who boycotted the poll.
Critics accuse Bangladeshi courts of rubber-stamping decisions made by her government.
Hasina has condemned the protests, saying the matter had been settled by the court.
“Students are wasting their time,” she said Sunday.
