Bangladesh Supreme Court Reduces Controversial Job Quota After Deadly Protests

"The court has instructed the students to return to their classes," said Shah Monjurul Hoque, the representative for two students in a case challenging the quota system.

Boston Brand Media Reports on Trending Major Developments in Bangladesh. 

Bangladesh's top court on Sunday scaled back contentious civil service hiring rules that had ignited nationwide clashes between police and university students, resulting in 151 deaths. While the ruling did not entirely abolish the quotas, it addressed some public demands.

The protests, initially against politicized admission quotas for government jobs, escalated into significant unrest during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure. Soldiers are now patrolling cities across Bangladesh after riot police failed to restore order, and a nationwide internet blackout since Thursday has severely limited information flow.

The Supreme Court was initially scheduled to rule next month on the legality of the recently reintroduced scheme that reserves over half of government jobs for select applicants. However, due to escalating civil strife, the verdict was expedited. The court declared the lower bench's order to reintroduce the scheme "illegal," according to Bangladeshi Attorney General A.M. Amin Uddin.

Shah Monjurul Hoque, a lawyer involved in the case, reported that the court had instructed protesting students to "return to class" following the verdict.

The ruling reduced the number of reserved jobs from 56 percent to seven percent, falling short of protester demands. It allocated five percent of government jobs to the children of "freedom fighters" from Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan, down from 30 percent. Additionally, one percent of jobs were reserved for tribal communities and another one percent for people with disabilities or those identifying as third gender under Bangladeshi law.

The remaining 93 percent of positions would be determined based on merit, as ruled by the court. The "freedom fighter" category is particularly contentious among young graduates, with critics arguing that it is used to fill public jobs with loyalists to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League. Students had called for the complete abolition of this category, along with other quotas for women and specific districts.

Opponents claim that Hasina's government manipulates the judiciary to its advantage, and the prime minister had already hinted that the court would rule in favor of the student demands. Hasina, 76, has been in power since 2009 and secured her fourth consecutive term in January after an election that lacked genuine opposition. Rights groups accuse her government of misusing state institutions to consolidate power and suppress dissent, including extrajudicial killings of opposition activists.

Despite the escalating crackdown and rising death toll, it remains uncertain if the court's ruling will quell the intense public anger. "It's no longer about student rights," said 24-year-old business owner Hasibul Sheikh during a Saturday street protest in Dhaka, held in defiance of a nationwide curfew. "Our demand is straightforward now: the resignation of the government."

With approximately 18 million young people unemployed in Bangladesh, the reintroduction of the quota scheme deeply upset graduates struggling with a severe job crisis. This month, Hasina further inflamed tensions by comparing protesters to the Bangladeshis who collaborated with Pakistan during the country's independence war. "Instead of addressing the protesters' grievances, the government's actions have worsened the situation," said Pierre Prakash, Crisis Group's Asia director, to AFP. Since Tuesday, at least 151 people, including several police officers, have been killed in clashes across the country, according to an AFP tally of reports from police and hospitals.

The curfew has been extended, and police have arrested several members of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Students Against Discrimination, the primary protest organizing group. Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told AFP that the curfew imposed on Saturday would remain in effect "until the situation improves." He mentioned that, besides protesters torching government buildings and police posts, arson attacks had rendered Dhaka's metro rail network inoperable. "They are carrying out destructive activities targeting the government," Khan said, accusing the BNP and the Islamist party Jamaat of inciting the violence.

The US State Department issued a warning on Saturday, advising Americans against traveling to Bangladesh and announcing plans to begin evacuating some diplomats and their families due to the ongoing civil unrest.

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Source: NDTV world‍