Students protesting in Bangladesh

Translated by Irene Cecchi

The protests in Bangladesh, that firstly concerned the quota for government jobs meaning the rules to get the access, led to more than a hundred casualties.

The student’s leader asked for a 48 hour pause after the Supreme Court abolished most of the quotas for government jobs, settling for 93% of positions destined to the most deserving based on merit. In addition, the Court also required the Government to reduce from 30 to 5% the quota for the families of the ones fighting for freedom and give the remaining 2% to “underdeveloped” groups and disabled.

The Court also asked the students to go back to school and the Government to issue a new quota guideline. The protests, that at the beginning were peaceful and limited to the University of Dhaka, grew in intensity when a count reintegrated the job quota that were abolished in 2018 by the Government of Prime Minister Sheik Hasina. The students believe the system is discriminatory and they ask for more meritocracy.

At the beginning the main issue was the fact that a big majority of governmental jobs were destined only to the relatives of the 1971 independence war warriors but then they turned into a general demonstration against Hasina’s government, accused to be the leader of an autocratic regime that take advantage of the institutions to consolidate her power. The government imposed a curfew and the armed forces reacted by shooting to the masses, causing more than a hundred casualties in four days. The Internet has been blocked and the army is controlling the streets. The arrests of various opposition leaders gave even more aim and strength to the protests that, among other things, were also caused by the alarming employment crisis in Bangladesh.

Every year, around 400.000 graduate people compete for 3.000 job positions and most of them end up being excluded because of reserved quotas. The movement that started against these quotas became a general political protest asking for Hasina’s immediate resignation, accused of brutal repression and of creating an impenetrable power system.

Despite the Supreme Court reducing the quota of reserved job positions, the demonstrators keep asking for the demolition of the whole system. Critics and human rights activists charge the government with abuse of power, illegal detentions to suppress dissent and extrajudicial killings of activists and opposers.

The crisis is a sign of youth dissatisfaction regarding the lack of economic and political rights. According to Ali Riaz, Professor at Illinois State University, the governmental job quotas became the symbol of a spoiled system against young people. The protests against Hasina’s government are now the biggest danger for her power, with students going on with their demonstrations, fighting a system they consider unfair and discriminatory.

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