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The army has been deployed to deal with violent protests against reservation in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Supreme Court has overturned the Dhaka High Court’s decision to give 56% reservation in government jobs. The court issued an order on Sunday, reducing the reservation from 56% to 7%. Out of this, 5% reservation will be given to the families of freedom fighters which was 30% earlier. The remaining 2% will include ethnic minorities, transgenders and disabled people. The court said that 93% of the jobs will be given on the basis of merit.
In 2018, the Bangladesh government abolished 56% reservation for different categories. The High Court overturned this decision on June 5. After this, a period of violence started in Bangladesh. According to the report of news agency AFP, 115 people have been killed in the violence so far.
After the situation worsened, curfew has been imposed in the entire country. There are orders to shoot the protesters on sight. The army has been deployed in place of the police. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has cancelled her foreign tour. She was scheduled to visit Spain and Brazil today.
To stop the protesters, police also resorted to lathicharge at many places.
Amid rising tensions in Bangladesh, 978 Indian students have returned home so far. Dhaka University has been closed until further notice. Students have been asked to vacate the hostels by Wednesday.
Reason for protest over reservation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh became independent in 1971. According to a report in the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star, an 80% quota system was implemented there from this year. In this, 30% reservation was given in jobs to the children of freedom fighters, 40% to backward districts, 10% to women. Only 20% seats were kept for general students.
In 1976, the reservation for backward districts was increased to 20%. This gave 40% seats to general students. In 1985, the reservation for backward districts was further reduced to 10% and a 5% quota for minorities was added. This gave 45% seats to general students.
Initially, only the sons and daughters of freedom fighters were given reservation but from 2009, grandchildren were also included in it. In 2012, 1% quota was also added for disabled students. This increased the total quota to 56%.
The government had stopped the quota system 6 years ago
In 2018, after 4 months of protests by students, the Hasina government had abolished the quota system, but on 5 June last month, the High Court ordered the government to give reservation again. The court said that the reservation that was available before 2018 should be implemented again in the same way.
The Sheikh Hasina government has appealed against this decision of the High Court in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has suspended the decision of the High Court for the time being after the government’s appeal. The Supreme Court will hear the case against the High Court’s decision on August 7.
An injured policeman lies on the road during clashes with students in Dhaka on July 18.
So far 115 people have died in the violence
According to information received from hospitals, at least 115 people have been killed so far in clashes between student protesters and police this week. More than 2,500 have been injured. Independent Television reported 17 deaths on Friday alone. Somoy TV claimed 30 deaths.
An Associated Press reporter saw 23 bodies at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, down from 22 reported dead on Thursday (July 18).
Earlier on Thursday, hundreds of protesters entered the BTV office campus and torched more than 60 vehicles. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave an interview to BTV on the same day. The next day, on Friday, protesting students stormed a prison in Narsingdi district. They set fire to the prison after freeing hundreds of prisoners.
978 Indian students returned home
So far 978 Indian students have returned from Bangladesh. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said on Friday that Indian students have been evacuated from Bangladesh through the Dawki Integrated Check Post. About 80 of them are from Meghalaya and the rest are from other states. Some students and tourists from Nepal, Bhutan have also been evacuated.
Meghalaya CM said that about 36 students are stranded in Bangladesh’s Eastern Medical College. We are in touch with the authorities there. The situation in and around the college is fine. However, the parents of the students are worried about the situation there.
There is a need to monitor the situation until the Indian government is fully assured that the route is clear and safe. Only after this the students will be brought to India. The total number of Indian citizens in Bangladesh is estimated to be around 15,000, including about 8,500 students.
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