Demonstrators in Bangladesh claimed they would not halt their agitation even after the contentious job quota law was significantly restricted by a verdict from the country’s Supreme Court. The decision reduced the percentage of reserved jobs from 56% of all posts to 7%, but it did not satisfy the demands of the demonstrators. The percentage of government positions earmarked for the children of “freedom fighters” from Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war against Pakistan was reduced from thirty per cent to five per cent by the Supreme Court.
According to law, one per cent was set aside for tribal communities and another one per cent for individuals who identify as third gender or have impairments. The court declared that the remaining 93% of posts would be filled based only on merit. Student leaders, meanwhile, continue to insist that their opinions have not been heard. The ruling has calmed down the streets, but student leaders promise to continue their agitation until important demands including the release of those who are in jail are fulfilled and officers accountable for the violence step down.
“We applaud the Supreme Court’s decision. However, we won’t stop protesting until the government provides an order that reflects our requests,” remarked a representative for Students Against Discrimination, the primary organization in charge of planning the demonstrations. There have been some arrests of protest leaders while justice for those killed in the conflict is demanded by the protestors. The student groups are also demanding the restoration of internet services and the resignation of ministers.
Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government would implement the ruling within days. He also blamed opposition forces for joining the protests and destroying “the symbols of Bangladesh’s development”.
Bangladesh was placed under a stringent curfew with a “shoot-on-sight” order by the police following 133 fatalities from widespread public unrest. The country’s top court is scheduled to rule on the future of civil service hiring standards on 21st July which ignited the fatal skirmishes between police and university students.
On 20th July after the protests turned into one of the bloodiest under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership, soldiers patrolled several parts of Dhaka. In addition to students, other individuals have joined the call for the administration to quit. The turmoil began as a protest against admission quotas for highly sought-after government posts. The riot police were unable to put an end to the chaos after which the military took over.
Since the 18th of July, Bangladesh has also seen a severe restriction on the flow of information to the outside world due to an internet blackout. The system for allocating civil service jobs, which reserves over half of the positions for particular groups, such as the offsprings of veterans of the nation’s 1971 liberation war against Pakistan is the root cause of the dissatisfaction. Opponents have repeatedly argued that individuals who support Hasina, who has ruled the nation since 2009, stand to gain from these quotas.
The protests started after the High Court on 5 June reinstated the 30% quota in govt jobs for children and grandchildren of independence war veterans, which was abolished by the govt in 2018. The HC had said that the circular abolishing reservation for the descendants of freedom fighters in class 1 and 2 jobs was illegal. This meant that along with other reservations for disabled individuals (1%), indigenous communities (5%), women (10%), and people from underdeveloped districts (10%), the total quota went up to 56%, leaving only 44% govt jobs to filled on merit basis. Now the Supreme Court has ordered that only 7% of the jobs will be reserved.
