The Government announces that 93 percent of the places will be distributed according to acquired merits but reserves the right to alter percentages
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has definitively suspended this Sunday the controversial system of employment quotas for civil servants that ended up unleashing this week the deadliest protests in recent years in the country, which have so far resulted in more than a hundred deaths and put in check the Government of the until now untouchable Prime Minister, Sheik Hasina.
The old quota system rescued last month stipulated that 30 percent of the country’s civil service jobs were reserved for descendants of fighters in Pakistan’s war of independence; a decision considered by critics, led by student organizations, as an act of discrimination.
The Government’s Appeals Division, to calm things down, asked the Supreme Court to decide this Sunday on the definitive suspension of a system whose return was decided by the court itself.
Now, and according to the Bangladeshi affiliate of the BBC, 93 percent of the positions will be decided by the merit of the participants in the competitions.
The descendants of the fighters see the percentage reserved for them drop from 30 percent to 5 percent. Another 1 percent will be reserved for minorities and the remaining 1 percent will go to the disabled and gender equality.
The Government, however, reserves the right to change these percentages, upon prior notification to the court.
CURFEW AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BLACKOUT CONTINUES
The country has received this news on a day of “vacation” declared by the Government to mask the curfew still in force and which will last throughout this Sunday and, perhaps, until Monday, also declared a holiday by the administration. .
The NetBlocks portal, specialized in monitoring Internet access in conflict zones, reported on Saturday night that the digital restrictions ordered by the authorities remained in force, “a blackout that continues to hinder Human Rights observers and independent media at a critical time.
Right now it remains to be seen if the Supreme Court’s ruling manages to appease a population that, as the days of protests passed and police repression hardened, extended their criticism beyond the quota system to address the prime minister, who went so far as to describe the protesters with one of the most offensive words that could have been used, “Razakar”, the Bangladeshis who joined Pakistan against the independentists.
In addition, humanitarian organizations have asked the Government to initiate an exhaustive investigation into the response of the security forces to the protests, which have left approximately 113 dead, according to the count carried out by national media, which is still quite inaccurate. They also demand that the authorities immediately release several opposition activists and politicians detained during the curfew.
In this sense, and accompanying the verdict, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has urged the Government to begin the relevant investigations in this regard as soon as possible, as confirmed by the State’s lawyer Shah Manjurul Haque, before expressing his confidence that the ruling of the court would help ease the tension. “I hope that everyone accepts the verdict and that the students return home,” he said.
