Bangladesh court scraps job quota
DHAKA, July 21 (Reuters): Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday scrapped most of the quotas on government jobs that had sparked nationwide protests by students that have killed at least 114 people in recent days.
Dismissing a lower court order, the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division directed that 93pc of government jobs in the country should be open to candidates on merit, Bangladesh Attorney General A. M. Amin Uddin told Reuters.
“Students have clearly said they are in no way part of the violence and arson that have taken place in Bangladesh since Monday,” he said by phone.
“I am hoping normalcy will return after today’s ruling and people with ulterior motives will stop instigating people,” Amin Uddin said. “I will ask the government to find out the culprits behind the violence and take strict action against them.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government had scrapped the quota system in 2018, but the lower court reinstated it last month, pegging total quotas at 56pc, sparking the protests and an ensuing government crackdown.
Internet and text message services in Bangladesh have been suspended since Thursday, cutting off 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 capital Dhaka, where army check points have been set up, after the government ordered a curfew late on Friday.
Streets near the Supreme Court were quiet immediately after the decision, a witness said. A military tank was stationed outside the court’s gate, television footage showed.
Local media had reported scattered clashes earlier in the day between protesters and security forces. Overseas telephone calls mostly failed to connect while websites of Bangladesh-based media organisations did not update and their social media accounts remained inactive.