Photo: Messenger
Bangladesh’s top court on Sunday (21 July) scaled back a controversial quota system for government job applicants, a partial victory for student protesters after days of nationwide unrest and deadly clashes between police and demonstrators that have killed scores of people.
Students, frustrated by shortages of good jobs, have been demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971. The government previously halted it in 2018 following mass student protests, but in June, Bangladesh’s High Court reinstated the quotas and set off a new round of protests.
Ruling on an appeal, the Supreme Court ordered that the veterans’ quota be cut to 5%, with 93% of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining 2% will be set aside for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.
The protests have posed the most serious challenge to Bangladesh’s government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won a fourth consecutive term in January elections that the main opposition groups boycotted. Universities have been closed, the internet has been shut off and the government has ordered people to stay at home.
With most communications offline, it was unclear whether the verdict satisfied protesting students, but a lawyer representing some student groups called the court’s decision historic. Shah Monjurul Haque said it was a start to reforming the problematic quota system.
“Everyone should abide by the verdict. I urge all protestors to return to their homes,” said Haque.
Law Minister Anisul Haq of the ruling Awami League party also welcomed the court’s decision and said it “well thought of.”
The protests turned deadly on Tuesday, a day after students at Dhaka University began clashing with police. Violence continued to escalate as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets and hurled smoke grenades to scatter stone-throwing protesters.
Messenger/Fameema
