Bangladesh Supreme court reduces quota to 5% from 30% for the children of 1971 war veterans in the new ruling.
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has decided to scale back the quota system, reducing its scope but stopping short of abolishing it entirely. Under the new ruling, 93% of positions in the government sector will now be filled based on merit, while 5% will remain reserved for children of veterans from the 1971 Liberation War, and 2% for other categories.
Bangladesh Supreme court reduces quota to 5% from 30% for the children of 1971 war veterans in the new ruling. The 30% quota issue had sparked the violent protests in the country.
Students, frustrated by shortages of good jobs, have been demanding an end to a quota that reserved 30% of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971. The government previously halted it in 2018 following mass student protests, but in June, Bangladesh's High Court reinstated the quotas and set off a new round of protests.
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.
The protests turned deadly on Tuesday, a day after students at Dhaka University began clashing with police. Violence continued to escalate as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets and hurled smoke grenades to scatter stone-throwing protesters. Bangladeshi authorities haven't shared any official numbers of those killed and injured, but the Daily Prothom Alo newspaper reported Saturday that at least 103 people have died so far. Sporadic clashes in some parts of Dhaka, the capital, were reported on Saturday but it was not immediately clear whether there were any fatalities.
(With inputs from AP/PTI)
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