Bangladesh scraps job quotas that sparked protests and hundreds of deaths

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday scrapped most government job quotas, a measure that sparked nationwide student protests that have left at least 114 people dead in recent days. The quotas included reserving 30 percent of government jobs for families of those who fought for Pakistan’s independence.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ordered that 93% of government jobs in the South Asian country should be open to candidates based on merit, Bangladesh’s Attorney General Amin Uddin said.

“The students have clearly stated that they are in no way part of the violence and arson that has taken place in Bangladesh since Monday,” he said by telephone.

“I hope that normalcy will return after today’s verdict and that people with ulterior motives will stop instigating people. I will request the government to find out the culprits of the violence and take strict action against them,” Uddin said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government had scrapped the quota system in 2018, but the lower court reinstated it last month, setting the total quotas at 56%, sparking protests and an ensuing government crackdown.

Internet and text messaging services in Bangladesh have been suspended since Thursday, cutting off communication in the nation of nearly 170 million people as security forces cracked down on protesters who defied a ban on public gatherings.

Soldiers have been patrolling the streets of the capital Dhaka, where army checkpoints have been set up, after the government ordered a curfew on Friday night.

Streets near the Supreme Court were quiet immediately after the decision, a Reuters witness said. A military tank was parked outside the courthouse gate, television footage showed.

Local media had reported scattered clashes earlier in the day between protesters and security forces. Most overseas phone calls failed to connect, while websites of Bangladesh-based media organisations failed to update and their social media accounts remained inactive.

The government extended the curfew as authorities prepared for a Supreme Court hearing on labor quotas.

A curfew until 3 p.m. (0900 GMT) on Sunday would be resumed for an “uncertain time” after a two-hour pause for people to gather supplies, local media reported. Reuters could not immediately say what would happen to the curfew after the ruling.

Riots broke out across the country following student anger against quotas for government jobs. The Supreme Court ordered the government to reduce job quotas for families of independence fighters to 5%, the attorney general said. The remaining 2% of jobs still subject to quotas are for people from so-called backward groups and the disabled, he added.

The protests, the biggest since Hasina was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term this year, have also been fueled by high unemployment among young people, who make up nearly a fifth of the population.

High living costs sparked deadly protests in Bangladesh last year, months after it turned to the International Monetary Fund for a $4.7 billion bailout as it struggled to pay for imported oil and gas because of dwindling dollar reserves.

Many opposition party leaders, activists and student protesters have been arrested in the ongoing crackdown, said Tarique Rahman, the exiled acting president of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Police arrested Nahid Islam, a prominent student coordinator, on Saturday, protesters said.

Universities and colleges have been closed since Wednesday. The U.S. State Department on Saturday raised its travel warning for Bangladesh to level four, urging American citizens not to travel there.