Bangladesh scraps job quotas after deadly protests

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday cancelled most of the job quotas, a highly contentious issue that had sparked deadly student-led protests in the South Asian nation.

The court’s Appellate Division, dismissing a lower court order, ruled that 93 per cent of government jobs should be filled based on merit, with no quotas.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin informed Reuters that quotas would only apply to five per cent of positions, reserved for families of war veterans who fought for independence from Pakistan.

The remaining two per cent of jobs will still be allocated based on quotas for disadvantaged groups and individuals with disabilities.

This decision comes after the government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, scrapped the quota system in 2018. However, a lower court reinstated it last month, setting the total quota at 56 per cent.

A Reuters witness reported that army teams were deployed throughout the capital, Dhaka, with a military tank stationed outside the Supreme Court. Local media also documented scattered clashes between protesters and security forces earlier in the day.

In anticipation of the court’s decision, the government had extended a nationwide curfew, with soldiers patrolling the streets of Dhaka, the epicentre of the demonstrations.

Attribution: Reuters