The Bangladeshi government banned Thursday Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student organization Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, on the charges of crimes against humanity and “terrorist activities” in the country’s quota reform movement.

Under Section 18 of Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Act, if an organization is reasonably suspected to be a terrorist organization, the government can freeze its financial assets, activities and services. In the present case, the government announced that it has sufficient evidence and witnesses indicating the direct and indirect involvement of the organization in violence during the quota protests. However, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, argued on social media that the ban is unconstitutional and undemocratic.

The quota protests were led by students and job-seekers calling for the discontinuation of the country’s quota system which allotted government positions for the descendants of independence war veterans. On Sunday, at least 147 people were reported to have been killed in clashes between student protesters and police. Amid the protests, internet services in Bangladesh were shut down for 11 days. Furthermore, local media reports at least 253 students were arrested from July 16 to the 28.