Activists belonging to the ruling party's student front, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), equipped with bamboo sticks, batons, and other weapons took a stand in Sylhet's Chowhatta area from 3pm to resist the students protesting in favour of quota reform.

Around 4pm, when the protesting students began gathering in the city’s Bandarbazar area, the BCL swiftly arrived and chased them away. The students dispersed during this confrontation.

For the past two weeks, university students across the country have been protesting to demand reforms to the job quota system and Sylhet has also seen its share of the movement.

Students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Sylhet have been holding various programs for 12 days straight, including processions, sit-ins, roadblocks, and torch rallies.

Initially, Sylhet BCL expressed solidarity with the rationale of the students' demands for quota reform. However, over the past two days, both the metropolitan and SUST BCL chapters have undertaken several anti-protest programs.

On Monday night, BCL members held multiple protest processions and motorcycle showdowns in Sylhet city.

On Tuesday afternoon, BCL took a firm stand in various locations, including SUST and different parts of the city.

Although the movement had been spared bloodshed till yesterday, as of filing this report around 7:30pm, five deaths have been reported on Tuesday in clashes triggered by the protests from Chattogram, Bogura and Dhaka.

Moreover, several hundred students have been injured in the clashes between the protesters, law enforcers and the BCL - the latter two working jointly to thwart the former across the country.