Bangladesh to maintain curfew as students wait for official notification on government employment reforms
Dhaka: Bangladesh remained under curfew and communications were cut across much of the country on Monday, a day after the Supreme Court scaled back a controversial job quota system following clashes that left more than 100 people dead last week.
Students have been protesting since early this month, demanding a reform of the quota system that reserves 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of war veterans who fought in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
Peaceful protests turned violent last week, with clashes between student protesters and security forces leaving 174 people dead and thousands injured, according to a tally by Bengali daily Prothom Alo, which reported more than a dozen deaths on Sunday alone.
Bangladesh remained under a curfew for a third day on Monday, with troops patrolling the capital and other areas, while internet connectivity across the country remained cut off, having been disrupted since Thursday night.
“Today, everything is calm across the country, except for a few incidents in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Narsingdi,” Biplab Barua, special assistant to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told Arab News.
“We hope that within the next 48 hours, the situation will improve and the country will return to normal. We expect to be able to provide broadband internet services again tonight (Monday). When the situation returns to normal, the curfew period will be eased.”
The Supreme Court on Sunday ordered the reduction of the quota reserved for relatives of war veterans to 5 percent, and to allocate 93 percent of jobs based on performance, while the remaining 2 percent would be reserved for members of minority ethnic groups and the disabled.
Bangladesh's Supreme Court is hearing an appeal. The government scrapped the quota after student protests in 2018, but the Supreme Court reinstated it in June, sparking fresh protests.
“Our students are not responsible for the chaos and violence on the streets, but the opposition parties are the ones who are obstructing the students’ movement,” Barua said.
“The court has complied with the students’ demands and the government will issue a circular on the quota system for government jobs by Tuesday,”
The Anti-Discrimination Students Group, the main protest organizer, said Monday that some of their demands had not been met, including the reopening of universities and an investigation into the bloody crackdown.
Protesting students are still waiting for the government to make an official announcement on the Supreme Court's decision.
“Because of the curfew, we are not on the streets at the moment because it would endanger the lives of our students,” Sargis Alam, protest coordinator for Students Against Discrimination, told Arab News.
“We are waiting for the government’s announcement on the quota system now… We are calling for the reform of the quota system in all levels of government jobs… It is very important for us,” he said. “After seeing the government’s announcement, we will be able to comment on whether our demands have been met.”
