Thousands of Bangladeshi protesters, many wielding sticks, gathered in Dhaka's central square on Sunday for a mass demonstration demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following a deadly police crackdown.
Asif Mahmood, one of the main protest leaders in a nationwide civil disobedience campaign, urged supporters to be ready to fight.
“Get the bamboo sticks ready and free Bangladesh,” he wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
While the army stepped in to help restore order following earlier protests, some former army officers have since joined the student movement, and former army chief General Iqbal Karim Boyian turned his Facebook profile picture red in a show of support.
Current army chief Walker Oz-Zaman spoke to officers at the military headquarters in Dhaka on Saturday and told them, “Bangladesh Army is a symbol of people's trust.”
According to an army statement released late on Saturday, he said: “This army always stands by the people and will do it for the sake of the people and if the government needs it.”
The statement did not provide further details and did not say whether the military supported the protests.
Protests against civil service employment quotas left more than 200 people dead in July in the worst unrest of Hasina's 15-year tenure.
Troops briefly restored order, but crowds returned to the streets this week in an all-out non-cooperation movement aimed at crippling the government.
On Saturday, as hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in Dhaka, police mostly watched from onlookers.
Growing movement
The protests have turned into a wider anti-government movement across the South Asian country of 170 million people.
The grassroots movement includes people from all walks of life in Bangladesh, including film stars, musicians and singers, and rap songs calling for public support have been widely circulated on social media.
“This is no longer about job quotas,” said Sakhawat, a young female protester who gave only one name.
What we want is that our next generation can live freely in the country.
It is also expected that counter-protests will be held in support of the government.
General Secretary of the ruling Awami League Hasina party, Obaidul Quader, has asked party activists to gather in “all parts of Dhaka city” and “in every district” across the country to show their support for the government.
“We don't want to get into any kind of confrontation,” Quader said.
The capital Dhaka was tense on Sunday, with fewer cars and buses on the normally busy streets of the metropolis of 20 million people.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters are expected to demonstrate in Dhaka and across the country.
Student protest
Students Against Discrimination, the group responsible for organizing the initial protests, called for nationwide rallies.
Demonstrations will be held at entry points to Dhaka and the main marches will take place in Dhaka's central Shahbagh Square, where crowds gathered on Sunday morning.
The group said in a statement late on Saturday: “We will hold our protests and gatherings peacefully. But if someone attacks us, we ask (everyone) to make all preparations.”
Students Against Discrimination have asked their compatriots to stop paying taxes and utility bills from Sunday in order to put pressure on the government.
They have also asked government workers and workers in the country's economically vital garment factories to go on strike.
Hasina, 76, has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after being voted out without real opposition.
His government is accused by human rights groups of abusing state institutions to consolidate power and repress opposition, including through the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.
Protests began in early July over the reinstatement of a quota scheme that reserved more than half of government jobs for certain groups. Since then, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has reduced it.
