Bangladesh students protest against discrimination - Part 2

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This reservation for freedom fighters is the very interesting one because it began in 1972, just a year after independence.

Their Ministry of Cabinet Services issued an order that year to create a quota for Freedom Fighters. Those who risked their lives, those who fought for their country's independence 30% jobs should be reserved for them.

It should be noted that this was applicable only for the Freedom Fighters.

Later, in 1997, this quota was extended to the children of freedom fighters. And in 2010, it was said that this quota should be extended to the grandchildren of freedom fighters too.

Although the exact quota for other categories kept changing over the years, in the end, the total percentage reached 56%.

After the decision to include grandchildren in 2010, there was a big movement in Bangladesh during 2012-13, against this quota system.

In February 2018, the Bangladesh's General Students' Rights Conservation Council, demanded reforms in Bangladesh Government Services.

Even then, there were clashes between the students who were against it and those who were pro-quota.

And under this pressure, in October 2018, Bangladesh's government, issued a circular that the quota system will be removed for first and second-class jobs.

The matter would have ended here, but in 2021, 7 students from Freedom Fighters' families filed a petition in the High Court against the removal of this quota system. And on 5th June, 2024, that is, last month, the High Court decided that the petitioners' arguments were valid.

The government circular was declared illegal and the quota system was reintroduced.

This was the reason why protests rekindled all over the country.

The protesting students claim that this quota is unconstitutional.

Nowhere in the original constitution was it written that the future generations of freedom fighters would have reservations for jobs.

And anyway, does it make any sense?

It is understandable to give a reservation to freedom fighters because they fought for the country's freedom.

But extending the reservation to their grandchildren simply because their grandparents were freedom fighters.

But the matter does not end here.

There have been allegations of corruption in the guise of reservation.

Actually, who will decide whether someone was a freedom fighter or not?

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The government has kept this responsibility with itself. The government will decide who was a freedom fighter.

For the past 15 years, the ruling party in Bangladesh has been, the Awami League, with Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister.

This is the same political party that fought for Bangladesh independence.

The protesters claim that the reservation for the freedom fighters disproportionately benefits the people of the Awami League.

The names of the freedom fighters who have been included in the list, at least 60,000 objections have been raised against those names.

And these objections have not been resolved by the government.

On July 10, this matter reached the Supreme Court, the government approached the Supreme Court to appeal against the High Court's order.

The Supreme Court imposed a stay on the High Court's order, but the protests didn't stop.

Apart from students and teachers, opposition parties of Bangladesh join in. Like the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

To confront the protesters, more than 7,000 paramilitary troops were called. Police use tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound grenades.

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The United Nations Secretary-General issued a statement that the government should refrain from using threats or violence against the protestors.

Apart from this, there were clashes between the protesters and the Bangladesh's Student League, which is the student wing of the Awami League Party. Both sides blame each other.

The Law Minister of the government said that the government is willing to talk with the protesters.

They claim that they are trying to get an early hearing in the Supreme Court so that the final order could be passed as soon as possible.

Students raise slogans outside Dhaka University that we won't let their brothers' blood go to waste.

Under pressure, the government formed a Judicial Probe Committee to investigate the incidents of violence.

The General Secretary of the Awami League says that the government will not interfere in the quotas.

And everyone should wait for the Supreme Court's decision.

But the main group of protesters, Students Against Discrimination, doubts the government's intentions.

They say that the Prime Minister did not say anything about the murders committed by her party's activists.

Thank you for reading my post.