For days, students have been protesting against a quota for well-paid jobs in the public sector that primarily benefits supporters of the ruling Awami League. The Supreme Court is trying to mediate.
After the violent student protests in Bangladesh with violence on the streets and numerous deaths, the Supreme Court has decided on a compromise in the conflict. The top judges of the South Asian country decided to significantly weaken the government’s planned reintroduction of a controversial quota system in the public service that was valid until 2018, as reported by the BBC Bangla broadcaster. It was initially unclear whether the students would be satisfied with this. According to local media, more than 110 people have died in the protests since Tuesday.
According to the court, from now on only 7 percent of the mostly well-paid jobs, instead of the previous 30 percent, will go primarily to descendants of soldiers from the 1971 War of Independence. The war was led by the ruling Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the time; Bangladesh had belonged to Pakistan until then.
Performance should prevail in future job allocation
In future, the majority of hiring will be based on merit (93 percent). The court thus accommodated the protesting students. Young academics in the poor country with its 170 million inhabitants often face unemployment, and jobs in the public sector are usually well paid.
Leading representatives of the student protests welcomed the verdict, but wanted to continue protesting. According to BBC Bangla, there was still no unified line on what the goals should be. Some called for the release of all arrested students and even the resignation of the government. The government, for its part, welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict. Justice Minister Anisul Haque spoke of a “very prudent verdict” that would be implemented as soon as possible, BBC Bangla reported.
Curfew
The protests at universities across the country began in early July after a court ordered the reintroduction of the old quota system, which was abolished in 2018 following massive student protests.
A curfew has been in place in the country since midnight on Friday, and the army is stationed across the country. Despite this, there were isolated violent incidents on Saturday, according to BBC Bangla. The curfew was relaxed for two hours on Sunday afternoon so that people could run essential errands, it was reported. Monday was declared a holiday.
The daily newspapers “Prothom Alo” and “The Daily Star” as well as other local media were not available online over the weekend. The government had largely cut off internet, telephone and SMS connections. The number of victims has not been officially confirmed.
Repeated protests against Hasina government
Beyond the conflict over quotas, there have been repeated protests in the past against Hasina’s government, which has been in power since 2009. Under her leadership, poor, predominantly Muslim Bangladesh experienced an economic boom. Recently, however, high inflation has caused problems for many people.
At the same time, the largest opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and human rights organizations accuse her of targeting her opponents and critics and having thousands of them arrested. She is also accused of election manipulation.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
