Bangladeshi Americans rally at the State Capitol to call for government reforms in their homeland

As deadly unrest roils Bangladesh, Inver Grove Heights resident Asad Zaman says he has not been able to reach his wife and siblings there.

“I am assuming many of you are in a similar situation — can I see a show of hands?” said Zaman, standing on the State Capitol steps on Saturday afternoon in front of a large Bangladeshi American crowd rallying against state violence in the South Asia nation.

In response to Zaman’s question, most of the rallygoers raised their hands.

Police and paramilitary officers in Bangladesh have used force to break up mass student protests against a quota system for government jobs in recent days, leading to clashes that have killed dozens of people and injured hundreds.

The Bangladeshi government has shut down internet connectivity, and authorities have instituted a national curfew. Human rights groups have condemned the government’s actions.

Police imposed a strict curfew with a “shoot-on-sight” order across Bangladesh as military forces patrolled parts of Dhaka, the capital, after scores were killed and hundreds injured in clashes over the allocation of civil service jobs.

Zaman, who immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh in 1992, called on Congress to hold a hearing on the matter and the State Department to monitor the situation. He also wants the U.S. to put trade with Bangladesh on hold, and for the Bangladeshi government to step down.

Zaman urged the rally’s participants to call the 10 members of the Minnesota congressional delegation to take action. “This is unacceptable,” he said. “No real democracy can function this way.”

At the rally, Ashifa Islam held signs that called for an end to the violence against Bangladeshi students and included the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., “An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere.” She hasn’t been able to communicate much with her family in Dhaka, where the clashes have occurred.

“There’s no way for most of us to be able to reach family back home,” she said. Even trying to reach relatives on land lines is futile, she added: “We hear their voices, but we can’t make out what they’re saying.”

IT professional Jamal Syed, who lives in Lakeville, was just in Dhaka where he attended college before immigrating here 29 years ago. He witnessed the student protests at his alma maters, Dhaka University and Dhaka College, but “at that time it was a simple demonstration like this,” he said, referring to Saturday’s rally at the Capitol. “It was very peaceful.”

He was upset by the videos of students killed, saying: “The death is horrible.”

Protesters in Bangladesh oppose quotas that reserve 30% of government jobs for the descendants of those who fought for the nation’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, and are calling for a merit-based system. About 40% of Bangladeshis ages 15-24 were not working, studying or training last year, according to Al Jazeera.

“I was kind of in the ruling party’s favor previously,” said Syed, adding that he initially thought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would do something good when she took office. “Now I am absolutely against [the regime].”