By Desmond Nleya
Following weeks of deadly demonstrations which claimed lives in Bangladesh, students had vowed to continue with the demonstrations regardeless of Bangladesh’s Supreme Court scalling back at a controversial government job quota system that triggered deadly nationwide unrest last month.
However, student leaders vowed to press on with demonstrations until key demands are met, including the release of those jailed, and officials responsible for the violence resign.
Protesters have been demanding the abolition of a 30 percent job quota for descendants of the 1971 liberation war veterans. The new court ruling says 93 percent of jobs should be on merit, allowing only a 5 percent reservation for relatives of freedom fighters and 2 percent for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.
Demonstrations began after the High Court reinstated the controversial quota system last month, and protests turned violent last week after governing party workers attacked demonstrating students.
Meanwhile more than 50 students were killed in the demonstrations.
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Sunday drastically reduced the number of government jobs reserved for war veterans and their descendants, a momentous decision spurred by violent student protests that had resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people and brought the country to a standstill.
Under the court’s orders, Bangladesh will now reserve only 5 percent of government jobs for the children and grandchildren of those who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, according to Shah Monjurul Hoque, a lawyer representing student groups. That is down from a quota of 30 percent for the group.
The court ruling also orders the reduction of quotas for some other groups, and abolishes quotas for women and those from certain districts. It cuts the quota of jobs for ethnic minorities to 1 percent, down from 5 percent, but leaves in place the 1 percent of jobs that are already reserved for those with disabilities.
In all, the ruling shrinks the number of reserved jobs to 7 percent from 56 percent, a move that will open up many more civil service jobs to university students, who had called the old system unfair and demanded its overhaul.
Since July 1, thousands of students have been protesting the reinstatement of the quota system, which had been abolished once, in 2018, before being restored this year.
The quota system was put in place by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, who led the fight for independence from Pakistan. Mr. Rahman, the father of Ms. Hasina, reserved government jobs as a reward for those who fought in the war. In 1997, and then again in 2010, the quotas had been expanded to include the children and grandchildren of so-called freedom fighters.
