Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has scrapped most of the quotas for government jobs that led to mass student protests and saw more than 114 people killed in the country’s worst unrest for a decade.
The protests have been steadily growing since last month after a lower court order reinstated a controversial quota system reserving up to 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971 against Pakistan.
The Sheikh Hasina government scrapped the quota system in 2018, but a court ordered that it be reinstated.
On Sunday, the Supreme Court dismissed that order and directed that 93 per cent of government jobs will be open to candidates on the basis of merit, without quotas.
The breakthrough has come after representatives from both sides met late on Friday to discuss a resolution. Law minister Anisul Huq had said the government was open to discussing their demands.
The court’s verdict came after the government extended a nationwide curfew until 3pm local time on Sunday and gave “shoot on sight” orders to quell protests.
The streets bore the look of a war zone as tanks and soldiers were deployed, with riot police using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters.
The protests were initially peaceful but exploded into violent clashes earlier this week after the student wing of the ruling Awami League party began counterprotests.
Despite increasingly stringent official measures to quell the unrest, sporadic clashes were reported in some parts of the capital Dhaka on Saturday. It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.
Bangladesh’s authorities have not released official figures for the number of those killed and injured, but local media reports on Saturday indicated that at least 114 people, mostly students, had been killed.
The country remains under a partial communications blackout due to the suspension of mobile data and text message services that began on Thursday.
The government declared public holidays on Sunday and Monday, saying the curfew would only be eased between 3pm to 5pm for people to run essential errands.
The crisis has emerged as the biggest challenge yet to Ms Hasina, who extended her 15-year tenure as prime minister with an election in January that was boycotted by the country’s main opposition groups, which accuse the government of a far-reaching and uncompromising crackdown on dissent.
The protests have shone a spotlight on the cracks in Bangladesh‘s governance and economy as well as the frustrations of the country’s youth at rising unemployment.
Protesters have argued that the quota system was discriminatory and benefitted supporters of Ms Hasina, whose political party led the independence movement. They demanded it be replaced with a merit-based system.
The government has spoken out in defence of quotas in the past, saying that veterans and their families deserve to be repaid for their sacrifices in the war against Pakistan.