BANGLADESH’S top court scaled back a controversial quota system for government job applicants today — a partial victory for student protesters after days of nationwide unrest and deadly clashes with police.
Students, frustrated by a shortage of good jobs, have been demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30 per cent 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, sparking a new round of protests.
Ruling on an appeal, the Supreme Court ordered that the veterans’ quota be cut to 5 per cent, with 93 per cent of jobs to be allocated on merit. The remaining 2 per cent 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’s elections, boycotted by the main opposition groups.
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 has satisfied protesting students. There was also no immediate reaction from the government.
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.
Bangladeshi authorities haven’t shared any official numbers of those killed and injured, but at least four local newspapers on Sunday reported that over 100 people have been killed.
Sporadic clashes in some parts of Dhaka, the capital, were reported on Saturday, but it was not immediately clear whether there were any fatalities.
Hasnat Abdullah, a leader from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement which has spearheaded the protests, said the state should take responsibility after many people have been killed.
Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing, soldiers patrolled cities across the south Asian country.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the stay-at-home order will be relaxed from 3pm to 5pm on Sunday for people to run essential errands.
Meanwhile, the government has declared Sunday and Monday as public holidays due to the situation, with only emergency services allowed to operate.
Protesters argue that the quota system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Ms Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, saying it should be replaced with a merit-based system.
Ms Hasina has defended the quota system, saying that veterans deserve the highest respect for their contributions in the war against Pakistan, regardless of their political affiliation.
Representatives from both sides met late on Friday in an attempt to reach a resolution, and law minister Anisul Huq said the government was open to discussing their demands. In addition to quota reform, these included the reopening of university dormitories and the need for some university officials to step down after failing to protect campuses.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has backed the protests, vowing to organise its own demonstrations as many of its supporters have joined the student-led protests.
However, BNP said in a statement its followers were not responsible for the violence and denied the ruling party’s accusations of using the protests for political gains.
The Awami League and the BNP have often accused each other of fuelling political chaos and violence, most recently ahead of the country’s national election, which was marred by a crackdown on several opposition figures.
Ms Hasina’s government had accused the opposition party of attempting to disrupt the vote.
