Bangladesh’s top court scales back ‘discriminatory’
job quota system after deadly protests
The Supreme Court in Bangladesh on Sunday ruled that only a small share of government jobs can be allocated to relatives of veterans who fought in the country’s war of independence. The rest must be allocated upon merit. The controversial quota system, which previously reserved 30 percent of those jobs to people related to war veterans, has in the past few weeks led to mass protests and more than a hundred deaths, according to local media.
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Bangladesh’s top court on Sunday 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.
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.
An Associated Press reporter on Friday saw security forces fire rubber bullets and tear gas at a crowd of more than 1,000 protesters who had gathered outside the head office of state-run Bangladesh Television, which was attacked and set on fire by protesters the previous day. The incident left streets littered with bullets and marked by smears of blood.
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, spearheading the protests, said many people have been killed, “so the state should take responsibility.”
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 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday for people to run essential errands.
Meanwhile, the government has declared Sunday and Monday as public holidays, with only emergency services allowed to operate.
Protesters argue the quota system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, saying it should be replaced with a merit-based system. 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 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, the demands included the reopening of university dormitories and for some university officials to step down after failing to protect campuses.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has backed the protests, vowing to organize 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 fueling political chaos and violence, most recently ahead of the country’s national election, which was marred by a crackdown on several opposition figures. Hasina’s government had accused the opposition party of attempting to disrupt the vote.
(AP)
Bangladesh imposes curfew, calls in military
as unrest continues
A government curfew was in place Saturday as military forces patrolled cities around Bangladesh after another day of violent clashes between student protesters and police over civil service job quotas left more than 130 people dead and nearly 300 police officers injured. The latest bout of violence prompted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to cancel her diplomatic visits to Spain and Brazil, initially scheduled for Sunday.
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Soldiers were patrolling Bangladeshi cities on Saturday to quell growing civil unrest sparked by student demonstrations, with riot police firing on protesters who defied a government curfew.
This week's violence has killed at least 133 people so far, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals, and poses a monumental challenge to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's autocratic government after 15 years in office.
A government curfew went into effect at midnight and the premier's office asked the military to deploy troops after police again failed to subdue widespread mayhem.
"The army has been deployed nationwide to control the law and order situation," armed forces spokesman Shahdat Hossain told AFP.
The curfew will remain in effect until at least 10:00 am (0400 GMT) Sunday, private broadcaster Channel 24 reported.
Streets in the capital Dhaka were almost deserted at daybreak, with troops on foot and in armoured personnel carriers patrolling the sprawling megacity of 20 million.
But thousands returned to the streets later in the day in the residential neighbourhood of Rampura, with police firing at the crowd and wounding at least one person.
"Our backs are to the wall," protester Nazrul Islam, 52, told AFP at the scene. "There's anarchy going on in the country... They are shooting at people like birds."
Hospitals have reported a growing number of gunshot deaths to AFP since Thursday.
"Hundreds of thousands of people" had battled police across the capital on Friday, police spokesman Faruk Hossain told AFP.
"At least 150 police officers were admitted to hospital. Another 150 were given first aid treatment," he said, adding that two officers had been beaten to death.
"The protesters torched many police booths... Many government offices were torched and vandalised."
Staff at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital told AFP that two more police officers and nine others were killed on Saturday, while four people admitted to intensive care succumbed to their injuries.
Three more protesters were killed in the industrial town of Savar on Dhaka's outskirts, a major centre of Bangladesh's garment exports.
Enam Medical College Hospital spokesman Zahidur Rahman confirmed the latter deaths to AFP, adding that "nine people came here with bullet wounds".
A spokesman for Students Against Discrimination, the main group organising the protests, told AFP that two of its leaders had been arrested since Friday.
Hasina had been due to leave the country on Sunday for a planned diplomatic tour but abandoned her plans after a week of escalating violence.
"She has cancelled her Spain and Brazil tours due to the prevailing situation," her press secretary Nayeemul Islam Khan told AFP.
'Not about students anymore'
Near-daily marches this month have called for an end to a quota system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans from the country's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.
Critics say the scheme benefits families loyal to Hasina, 76, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.
Hasina's government is accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including by the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.
Since the first deaths on Tuesday, protesters have begun demanding Hasina leave office.
"It's not about the rights of the students anymore," business owner Hasibul Sheikh, 24, told AFP at the scene of the Rampura protest.
"We are here as the general public now," he added. "Our demand is one point now, and that's the resignation of the government."
'Shocking indictment'
Pierre Prakash of Crisis Group told AFP the lack of competitive elections since Hasina took office had led to mounting public frustration.
"With no real alternative at the ballot box, discontented Bangladeshis have few options besides street protests to make their voices heard," he said.
"The rising death toll is a shocking indictment of the absolute intolerance shown by the Bangladeshi authorities to protest and dissent," Babu Ram Pant of Amnesty International said in a statement.
Authorities imposed a nationwide internet shutdown on Thursday that remains in effect, severely hampering communication in and out of Bangladesh.
Government websites remain offline and major newspapers including the Dhaka Tribune and Daily Star have been unable to update their social media platforms since Thursday.
Bangladesh Television, the state broadcaster, also remains offline after its Dhaka headquarters was set on fire by protesters the same day.
(AFP)
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