More than 4,500 Indian students have returned from Bangladesh amid growing unrest and violence there, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.

The ministry added that 500 students from Nepal, 38 from Bhutan and one Maldivian citizen have also been evacuated to India from Bangladesh.

The ministry said in a statement that the Indian High Commission in Dhaka has been “making arrangements for security escort for safe travel of Indian nationals to the border-crossing points”. It also said that the assistant high commissioners in other parts of Bangladesh have assisted in ensuring safe passage home for Indian nationals.

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At least 150 persons were killed in Bangladesh over the past week as thousands of protestors clashed with the police and members of the ruling Awami League party’s student wing. The toll is hard to assess because of a communications blackout in the country.

University campuses across Bangladesh have been gripped by protests since the beginning of July, in response to a High Court ruling in June that reinstated a 30% quota in government jobs for family members of freedom fighters of the 1971 Bangladeshi Liberation War.

The reservation system, which was abolished in 2018 following widespread protests, has rekindled anger among young job seekers and students who fear that they are being deprived of opportunities because of the quota.

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Last week, the stir snowballed into one of the largest agitations yet against the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led government, which has been in power since 2009.

On Sunday, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court scaled back most of the quotas in government jobs amid the violence. The top court also urged protesting students “to return to class”, AFP quoted Shah Monjurul Hoque, a lawyer involved in the case, as saying.

The country’s top court retained 5% reservations in government jobs for the family members of “freedom fighters” from the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, down from 30% after the High Court’s ruling.

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