Quota reform protesters in Bangladesh. Photo: Rownak Shahriar Ruhan/Wikimedia commons.
Amidst widespread violence across the country over the controversial quota in government jobs, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh issued a crucial verdict on Sunday, July 21, scaling back the quotas drastically.
As per the verdict, 93% government jobs would be based on merit and the overall quota would be reduced to 7% from the current 56%. Descendants of freedom fighters who currently have 30% of posts reserved for them would now only get 5% reservation. The remaining 2% of reserved jobs would be allotted to candidates belonging to ethnic minorities in the country and the physically disabled.
According to various reports, more than 140 people, including a large number of students, were killed in the violent clashes last week between security forces and students who have been opposing the high quota. The protests remained by and large peaceful until July 15 when they turned violent after an alleged attack carried out by pro-government students backed by the country’s security forces.
Most of the deaths have been reported from the capital Dhaka where protesters clashed with the security forces and attacked metro rail stations and even a prison in nearby Narsingdi. Several other parts of the country were also affected by the violence.
Despite the Supreme Court judgment on Sunday, some of the student leaders declared they will continue their protests. According to an Al Jazeera report, protesters are now demanding the resignation of home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, holding him responsible for the violence and killing of people. They are also demanding release of all people arrested during last week’s protests. Some others have called the Supreme Court verdict vague and wanted more clarity on it before calling off the protests, Reuters reported.
The ruling Awami League has however stated that the otherwise “legitimate protests” by students have been “hijacked” by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and some extremist groups in the country. It alleged that those opposition parties who could not win through popular elections have been looking for an opportunity to destabilize the Hasina government which won its fourth consecutive term earlier this year in January. BNP had boycotted the elections.
Following the Supreme Court judgment, Attorney General A. M. Amin Uddin expressed hope that “normalcy will return” and “people with ulterior motives will stop instigating people,” Reuters reported.
Violent escalation
On July 16, a day after the violence broke out, the government led by Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League ordered shutting down of all universities, colleges, and high schools in the country for an indefinite period.
Later on Friday, July 19, the government called in the army and imposed a curfew with shoot-on-sight orders following the spread of violence all across the country. Internet and other communication services were also suspended.
Meanwhile, protesters rejected the government’s offer of talks regarding their demands and continued to mobilize large-scale demonstrations against the quota system.
The government in response had called on protesters to wait for the Supreme Court judgment before further steps could be taken to address their concerns.
Protesters alleged that the government was reluctant to ban the quota as it benefited the members of the ruling party and its supporters. However, the government had argued that the quota was an acknowledgment of the sacrifices made by people during the freedom struggle.
Quota controversy
The Awami League was at the forefront of Bangladesh’s war of liberation in 1971 against Pakistan in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed by Pakistan’s army and local collaborators known as Razakars. The quota in government jobs was first constituted by Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman immediately after he became the first prime minister of independent Bangladesh as a way to recognize the sacrifices made by the people.
Due to rising unemployment among the country’s youth and crisis in the economy, these quotas became increasingly unpopular. After a student protest in 2018, the Hasina government issued a circular scrapping the quota system for recruitment to first and second class jobs. However, in June this year, a High Court order annulled the 2018 circular, thus making the quotas effective again. This verdict was what sparked the latest round of large scale student protests which turned violent last week. On Sunday, July 21, the Supreme Court called the High Court’s judgment illegal.
The verdict on Sunday, however, also scrapped the 10% quota each for women and people from underdeveloped districts and the 5% quota for religious minorities in government jobs.
Progressive sections in the country including the Workers Party of Bangladesh (BWP) and the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) had earlier demanded that these “progressive” quotas for women and minorities be protected and that a process be initiated to fulfill other legitimate demands of reforms.
(People’s Dispatch) by Abdul Rahman
