Hello I'm James Reynolds. Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

In BBC OS conversations we bring people together to share their experiences and this time

we hear from Bangladeshis both at home and abroad about the recent unrest and its profound

effect on their lives.

In a country familiar with street protests, Bangladesh has been witnessing some of its worst

scenes in living memory.

We hear from those caught up in the violence and speak to family members watching anxiously

from overseas, one of whom lost an uncle who was shot dead as he went to his mosque to pray.

I couldn't do anything. I couldn't attend the funeral. I just kept asking myself, how can I help his family now they need

mental support and I can't even call them there's no way to tell them that I'm sad

here too. The violence which continues after around a month of

unrest is reported to have claimed more than 200 lives, mostly as a result of

the police opening fire.

It began though as peaceful protest against the government.

It then turned violent as the police clashed with students.

There were reports, videos, pictures of gunfire, tear gas, fires being lit on the streets, burnt and demolished

vehicles abandoned. Students were demonstrating against a quota system which meant that a third of government jobs were reserved for veterans and family of the

1971 War of Independence against Pakistan

and that matters because graduate unemployment is high in Bangladesh, and there have been

calls for more available jobs to be awarded on merit, not quota.

We brought together Noshin and Tabildar, not their real names, we wanted to protect them for their safety.

They shared what it's like to live in the country at the moment.

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