DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh’s top court on Sunday reduced a controversial quota system for government job applicants, in a partial victory for student protesters after days of unrest across the country and deadly clashes between police and protesters. who have killed dozens of people.
Students, frustrated by the shortage of good jobs, have been demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30% of government jobs for family members of veterans who fought in The Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971. The government previously stopped them in 2018 following massive student protests, but in June, Bangladesh’s High Court reinstated the quotas and sparked a new round of protests.
On appeal, the Supreme Court ordered that the veteran quota be reduced to 5% and that 93% of jobs be awarded based on merit. The remaining 2% will be reserved for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.
The protests have posed the most serious challenge to the Bangladesh government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. won a fourth consecutive term in the January elections that were boycotted by the main opposition groups. Universities were closed, the Internet was cut off, and the government ordered people to stay home.
The protests turned deadly on Tuesday, a day after Dhaka University students began clashing with police. Violence continued to escalate as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets and lobbed smoke grenades to disperse stone-throwing protesters. Bangladeshi authorities have not shared any official death toll and injury toll, but the Daily Prothom Alo newspaper reported Saturday that at least 103 people have died so far.
Sporadic clashes were reported in some parts of the capital Dhaka on Saturday, but it was not immediately clear if there were any fatalities.
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 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Sunday so that people can run essential errands.
Meanwhile, the government has declared Sunday and Monday public holidays and only emergency services are allowed to operate.
Protesters argue that the quota system is discriminatory and benefits supporters of Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, and say it should be replaced with a merit-based system. Hasina has defended the quota system, saying veterans deserve the utmost respect for their contributions in the war against Pakistan, regardless of their political affiliation.
Representatives from both sides met on Friday night in an attempt to reach a resolution and Justice Minister Anisul Huq said the government was open to discussing their demands. His demands included reform of the current quota system, the reopening of student residences closed by police after clashes and the resignation of some university officials after failing to protect campuses from violence.
The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has backed the protests and promised to organize its own demonstrations, as many of its supporters have joined the student-led protests. However, the BNP said in a statement that its supporters were not responsible for the violence and denied the ruling party’s accusations of using the protests for political gain.
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 elections, which were marred by a repression against several opposition figures. Hasina’s government accused the opposition party of trying to disrupt the vote.
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A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that the Supreme Court ruling reserved 7% of government jobs for family members of veterans; In fact, the figure is 5%, with another 2% reserved for members of ethnic minorities and transgender and disabled people.
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Saaliq reported from New Delhi, India.
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