Bangladesh Protests: Court Rescinds High Job Quotas After Many Deaths
Sawako Utsumi and Michiyo Tanabe
Modern Tokyo Times
The Supreme Court in Bangladesh rescinded the high job quotas that led to mass protests in this country.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court decision that reinstated high job quotas. Deaths since protests began have now reached 114 people.
The BBC reports, “A third of public sector jobs had been reserved for the relatives of veterans from the country’s war for independence from Pakistan in 1971.”
Now, only 5% of public sector jobs will be reserved for the relatives of loyalists who fought for the independence of Bangladesh.
It remains to be seen if the government will challenge the verdict. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government revoked the quota system in 2018. Therefore, it seems likely that the leader of Bangladesh will support the new measures.
AP News reports, “The protests have posed the most serious challenge to Bangladesh’s government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won a fourth consecutive term in January elections that were boycotted by the main opposition groups. Universities have been closed, the internet has been shut off and the government has ordered people to stay at home.”
Babu Ram Pant (Amnesty International – Deputy Regional Director for South Asia) said, “The rising death toll is a shocking indictment of the absolute intolerance shown by the Bangladeshi authorities to protest and dissent.”
Reuters reports, “Many opposition party leaders, activists and student protesters have been arrested in the current crackdown, said Tarique Rahman, the exiled acting chairman of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Police arrested Nahid Islam, a leading student coordinator, on Saturday, the protesters said.”
The political faultlines in Bangladesh remain firmly entrenched.
Lee Jay Walker (Modern Tokyo Times analyst) says, “It is hoped that all sides will seek a compromise and abide by the Supreme Court decision. Bangladesh was born on the deaths of so many people – but the ‘pain of birth’ remains within the body politic of this nation.”
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