UN agencies and the US in separate statements on Sunday expressed their grave concern over the attack on children and young students while they were protesting over road safety.
"We are deeply concerned about the reports of violence and call on all for calm. The concerns expressed by youth about road safety are legitimate and a solution is needed for a mega city like Dhaka," the United Nations Resident Coordinator Mia Seppo said in a statement.
"A functioning public transport system should ensure the safety of all, including children, young girls and women," the statement said.
The UN urgently calls upon all parties to keep everyone - including children and young people - safe on the roads and safe from any kind of violence, it added.
UN agencies are increasingly concerned for the safety of children and young people caught up in recent protests over road safety in Dhaka and other parts of the country, it mentioned.
Students and young people have a legitimate right to speak out on issues of concern to them including road safety and to have their opinion heard without the threat of violence, it said.
The UN has long campaigned for better road safety across the world and traffic accidents in Bangladesh are one of the major killers of young people (according to a World Health Organization report there are more than 20,000 road fatalities every year in Bangladesh), it added.
The US Embassy in a statement expressed its deep concern over the situation in Bangladesh.
A number of young people taking part in demonstrations in the capital have been injured over the last few days. Many schools have been closed as a result of the protests, depriving children of learning opportunities, it said.
The peaceful demonstrations of the past week in favour of better vehicle and road safety, led by students and school children across Bangladesh, have united and captured the imagination of the whole country.
"While we do not condone the actions of a few who have engaged in senseless property destruction, including of buses and other vehicles, nothing can justify the brutal attacks and violence over the weekend against the thousands of young people who have been peacefully exercising their democratic rights in supporting a safer Bangladesh," the statement said.
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