Bangladesh: Students protest jobs reserved for war heroes’ children

A selection system that they claim favors children of battle heroes and some groups is being used by thousands of university students in Bangladesh to apply for high-paying government jobs has caused thousands of students to protest.

The activists claim that the hiring process is unfair and that merit-based hiring is required.

The babies of those who fought for the country’s independence in 1971 are kept in a third of the content. Some are also reserved for women, ethnic minorities and the handicapped.

Critics say the system unfairly benefits the children of pro-government groups that support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who won her fourth straight election in January.

Ms Hasina is the child of Bangladesh’s foundation head Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Students earlier this month slowed customers in the capital Dhaka and another big cities, bringing it to a halt. The demonstrations are known as the Bangla Blockade.

Some people dumped reports on a railroad trail in the capital, causing disruption to trains that travel to the northern regions of the nation.

Bangladesh’s top prosecutor briefly suspended the program on Wednesday, but demonstrations are expected to continue until it is completely removed.

A different courtroom reinstated the program only last month. It had been halted since 2018, following months of demonstrations.

” We will not transfer to rooms until our desire is satisfied,” protest leader Rasel Ahmed told the AFP news agency.

” My desire is not to cancel the program. My desire is for limit reform”, one rebel told BBC Bangla.

Another scholar said he would stay protesting until a “permanent answer” is found.

Government positions are extremely sought-after in Bangladesh because of their competitiveness. More than half of the jobs, which total amount to hundreds of thousands, are held by particular groups.

Earlier this month, Ms Hasina condemned the demonstrations, saying individuals were “wasting their day”, while adding there was” no explanation for the anti-quota action”.

Bangladesh, which was once one of the poorest countries in the world, is now one of the fastest-growing economy in Asia.

The World Bank estimates that over 25 million people have been rescued from hunger over the past 20 years, despite the fact that its per capita revenue has tripled in the last ten years.

However, as a result of the crisis and the decline in global economic growth, its economy sprang into tumult in mid-2022.