The recent protest movement by the students in Bangladesh is an important political turning point for the country. The impacts are being felt beyond the country’s national frontiers, and many have presented it as a struggle to restore the democratic values of Bangladesh.
So far, almost two hundred protestors have been killed, while thousands more are injured or missing in the face of one of the most brutal waves of repression in the history of independent Bangladesh.
The recent protests started with students mobilizing in the beginning of July to demand an end to the quota system for government jobs. The origins of this system date back to the period when Bangladesh had to fight for its independence against the rulers and army of what was then called West Pakistan. In 1972, as the country emerged from the Liberation War, job reservations for freedom fighters were put in place to acknowledge their sacrifices.
This system was amended several times over the next decades, resulting in 30 percent of civil service jobs being reserved for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters. Another 26 percent are reserved for women, people from underdeveloped districts, indigenous communities, and those with disabilities. This means that only 44 percent of the jobs are left open to general applicants.
Civil service jobs are highly coveted in Bangladesh against the backdrop of an otherwise bleak employment scenario, with close to three million Bangladeshis jobless. As a result, the quota system has generated a groundswell of discontent and…
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Auteur: Sushovan Dhar
