Bangladesh protests: Top court scraps most job quotas after violent unrest

By BBC Bangla, Ethirajan Anbarasan and Tom McArthurBBC News, Dhaka and London

Reuters police and people on the streets of Dhaka on Sunday 21 JulyReuters

The majority of the federal employment quotas that had caused violent conflicts that have killed more than 100 people in Bangladesh have been eliminated.

A third of the work in the public sector were held by friends of Pakistani soldiers from the country’s 1971 battle.

However, the court has now decided that only 5 % of the functions can be reserved for friends of soldiers.

The decision may be put into effect within days, according to rules minister Anisul Huq. Some scholar officials have vowed to keep the protests going.

In a statement to the BBC, Mr. Huq even denied that Sheikh Hasina, who has been in power since 2009, is gaining control of Bangladesh.

” In that situation, you may have witnessed the country’s large people revolt. They have truly backed the government during this upheaval, and they have argued that the government should intervene to put an end to the violence, he said.

He blamed criticism makes for joining the protests and destroying” the images of Bangladesh’s development”.

Numerous protest movement supervisors have informed the BBC that the protests may persist until the authorities took any necessary steps.

” We applaud the judge’s verdict”, said one representative, Nusrat Tabassum. ” But our principal need is with the executive department. Until those needs are implemented, the continued global full shutdown system will proceed”.

The learners ‘ demands also include the reinstatement of online services, the release of imprisoned opposition leaders, and the resignations of government ministers.

Due to the second day of a law, streets in the investment Dhaka are deserted, but occasional clashes persist despite the supreme court’s decision.

Although there are reports of about 115 fatalities, local press reports a significantly higher fatality rate. At least 50 people were killed just on Friday.

The Supreme Court’s decision mandates that 5 % of government jobs be filled on merit, with 5 % going to the families of the country’s veterans of the independence war.

A remaining 2 % is reserved for people from racial minorities or with disabilities.

Scrapped in 2018 by Ms Hasina’s state, the quota system was reinstated by a lower court last month, sparking the demonstrations.

standoff between people and police under a railway line in Dhaka

The government responded with a harsh crackdown, including a curfew and a communications blackout.

Protest organizers claim that peaceful protesters have been brutally beaten by officers and the student-wing of the ruling Awami League, or Bangladesh Chhatra League. The state disputes this.

Some people have been detained by the authorities.

Nahid Islam, a organizers of the limit reform activity, alleged that he had been subjected to physical and mental abuse.

He claimed to have been handcuffed, handcuffed, and taken to a personal vehicle by police and told the BBC.

” After a while, I was taken out of the vehicle and taken to a place in a home. I was questioned and later subjected to torture. At one stage I fainted. After that I have no ram”, Mr Islam said.

He claims that on Sunday night, he regained perception on the street in a Dhaka neighborhood. He said,” I also have blood clotting on both my left leg and hips.”

The authorities have no commented.

Nahid Islam in hospital with bruised shoulder

The turmoil has also seen arson attacks on government buildings, authorities check articles and the city’s subway structure, which the interior secretary said had been left useless. Burnt out cars can be seen in most Dhaka towns.

In different regions of the nation, reports of conflicts have been reported. More than 800 captives escaped from a jail near Dhaka with 85 arms and 10, 000 weapons sessions. Authorities say they have so far recaptured 58 of the prisoners.

The ruling Awami League group, according to UK-based scientist Kamal Ahmed, claimed the Awami League party had abused the newly implemented career quota system.

He claimed that the quota technique was merely a plot to bolster the group’s effect in the coming administration.

The ensuing demonstrations were of “unprecedented power” and have expanded to become a “much wider people’s action” against a backdrop of allegations of corruption, lack of accountability and the escalating cost of living, he said.

Anisul Huq, the attorney general, refuted the claim that the limit method was assisting the Awami League.

” I would say that 95 % of the ruling party’s members were either freedom fighters or were supporters.” He told the BBC,” It’s quite normal that they would gain from it.”

EPA Protesters throw sticks and stones from behind concrete pipes being used as barricades. smoke billows in the background.EPA

Bangladesh’s economy is one of the world’s fastest-growing, but graduates from universities have never found employment as a result.

According to quotes, there are about 18 million fresh Bangladeshis looking for work. Higher unemployment rates are experienced by graduates from universities than their less educated classmates.

In the UK and the US, there have been protests and confrontations.

Rallies have even taken place outside the country as a result of the conflicts in Bangladesh.

A demonstration outside the White House in the US, primarily involving Bangladeshi individuals studying it, took place. Individuals in Times Square in New York carried banners in which they pleaded for justice for the individuals who had been killed in the last few weeks.

On Thursday night, there were disruptions in west London as pro- and anti-government organizations clashed.

Police said they found two large groups of men fighting among a wider demonstration of several hundred people in Whitechapel, which has a large ethnic Bangladeshi population.

Things were finally thrown at officers, injuring two, and automobiles were damaged.

people in Dhaka walk past a soldier with their hands up
Reuters Students and job seekers shouts slogans as they protest to ban quotas for government job at Shahbagh Square in Dhaka, Bangladesh.Reuters