DHAKA: Bangladesh remains under a curfew and widespread communications blackout on Monday, a day after the Supreme Court curbed a controversial work quota system following deadly clashes that have killed more than 100 people over the past week.
University students have been demonstrating since earlier this month to demand reform of the quota system that reserved 30 percent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war.
Peaceful protests turned violent last week, with clashes between student protesters and security forces killing 174 people and injuring thousands, according to a tally by Bengali daily Prothom Alo, which reported more than a dozen dead on Sunday alone.
Bangladesh was under curfew for a third day on Monday, with military personnel patrolling the capital and other areas, while internet connectivity remained suspended across the country as it was cut since Thursday night.
“Everything is fine across the country today, except for a few isolated incidents in Dhaka, Narayanganji and Narsingdi,” Biplab Barua, special assistant to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, told Arab News.
“We hope that within the next 48 hours, the situation will improve and the country will return to normal operations. We expect to restore broadband internet services this evening (Monday). As soon as the situation looks normal, the length of the curfew hours will be eased.”
The Supreme Court on Sunday ordered to reduce the quota reserved for relatives of veterans to 5 percent and allocate 93 percent of jobs on merit, while the remaining 2 percent will be reserved for ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities. .
The Bangladesh Supreme Court ruled on the appeal. The government abolished the quotas after student protests in 2018, but in June the high court reinstated them, triggering a new round of demonstrations.
“Our students are not responsible for the anarchy and atrocities in the streets. It is the opposition parties… who hijacked the movement from the students,” Barua said.
“The demands of the students have been met by the court and the government will issue a circular regarding the quota system in government jobs by Tuesday.”
Students Against Discrimination, the main protest organizing group, said on Monday that some of their demands were still not being met, including the reopening of universities and an investigation into the deadly attack.
The student protesters are also waiting for the government to make an official announcement about the Supreme Court decision.
“Since there is a curfew, we are not on the streets at the moment. It will endanger the lives of our students,” Sarjis Alam, coordinator of the Students Against Discrimination protests, told Arab News.
“At the moment, we are waiting for the government circular on the quota system… We have demanded reform of quota systems in all levels of government posts… It is very important to us,” he said. “(After) seeing the government circular, we can comment whether our demands have been addressed or not.”
