- Author, BBC Bangla and Tom McArthur
- Role, BBC News, Dhaka and London
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has scrapped most quotas on government jobs that sparked violent clashes across the country that left more than 100 people dead.
A third of public sector jobs were reserved for relatives of veterans of the country’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.
But the court has now ruled that only 5% of the positions can be reserved for relatives of veterans.
The government has yet to respond to the Supreme Court’s decision. But a lawyer representing the petitioners demanding the quotas be maintained called the Supreme Court’s decision “historic” and called for calm.
“Let everyone accept this verdict,” Shah Manjurul Haque told a press briefing, adding that “students should go home.”
He urged “third parties” not to “fish in the muddy waters” of the conflict.
However, a spokesman for one of the student groups, quoted by AFP, said the protests would continue.
“We welcome the Supreme Court’s verdict,” a spokesman for Students Against Discrimination told AFP.
“But we will not stop our protests until the government issues a decree reflecting our demands.”
Streets in the capital Dhaka are deserted as a second day of curfew comes into force, but sporadic clashes have been reported in some areas.
An armoured vehicle has been parked outside the Supreme Court building and soldiers are still patrolling the streets of the capital, Reuters reports.
Some of the protest leaders have reportedly been arrested. Others are demanding justice for those killed in the clashes.
An estimated 115 people died, but local media reported a much higher toll. At least 50 people died on Friday alone.
The Supreme Court ruling orders that 93 percent of public sector jobs be awarded on the basis of merit, leaving 5 percent for family members of veterans of the country’s independence war.
The remaining 2% is reserved for people from ethnic minorities or with disabilities.
Scrapped in 2018 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, the quota system was reinstated by a lower court last month, sparking huge protests.
Protest coordinators say police and the student wing of the ruling Awami League, known as the Bangladesh Chhatra League, used brutal force against peaceful protesters. The government denies the allegations.
Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but that growth has not translated into jobs for university graduates.
An estimated 18 million young Bangladeshis are looking for jobs. University graduates face higher unemployment rates than their less-educated peers.
