Anti-quota movement spreads

The movement of the job aspirants and students demanding the reinstatement of the circular published 2018 cancelling the quota system is spreading across the country. The protesters blocked the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka for around one and a half hours.

Students of six other universities also demonstrated on the same demand yesterday, Wednesday. The students of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) blocked the railway. Besides, the students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway, Chittagong University (CU) students the Chattogram-Khagrachhari highway and the Barishal University students blocked the Barishal-Kuakata highway.

The job aspirant students of the Jagannath University (JnU) staged a demonstration blocking the Tantibazar intersection in Old Dhaka from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm Wednesday.

The students of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) brought out a procession in protest of the reinstatement of the quota system in government jobs at 11:30 am.

The hearing on the cancellation of the circular revoking the quota system is scheduled to be held today, Thursday. The students also have programmes on Dhaka University campus today as part of their ongoing anti-quota movement. Speaking to relevant officials in public administration, it has been learnt the government will take necessary steps as per the verdict of the court today, Thursday.

The quota system in government jobs is nothing new. The quota system in government jobs was introduced through an executive order after independence. Till 1976, only 20 per cent of the recruitments in government jobs were merit-based. The remaining of the posts was filled under the quota system. In 1976, the merit-based recruitment was raised to 40 per cent. It was increased further later.

Till 2018, there was 56 per quota in government jobs, including 30 per cent freedom fighter quota, 10 per cent women quota, 10 per cent quota for people from backward districts, 5 per cent quota for ethnic minorities and 1 per cent quota for physically impaired persons.

That year, there was a big protest in the educational institutions across the country, including the Dhaka University demanding quota reform. The protester demanded to bring down the quota percentage to 10 from 56 per cent. The students and job aspirants waged the movement under the banner of ‘Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Adhikar Shangrakkhan Parishad’.

In the face of the movement, the government abolished the entire quota system for first and second class government jobs.

Later, on 4 October that year, the public administration ministry issued a circular cancelling the quota system. Through this, the quota system that had been in practice for 46 years for the first class and second class government jobs was cancelled.

However, in 2021, the offspring of freedom fighters filed a writ with the High Court challenging the abolishment of the freedom fighter quota for government jobs.

Following the hearing on that writ, the court declared the cancellation of the freedom fighter quota as illegal on 5 June this year. The job aspirants have been protesting since then demanding the reinstatement of the circular abolishing the freedom fighter quota.

Following the court verdict, the students and job aspirants took to the streets again. They have been demonstrating continuously since 1 July.

Apart from the reinstatement of the circular, the job aspirants and students united under the banner of ‘Anti-discriminatory student movement’ are also pressing some other demands. Those include the formation of commission to omit irrational and discriminatory quotas in all grades of government jobs subjected to the reinstatement of the 2018 circular, considering the backward community as per the constitution, closing down the scopes to use the quota facility more than once, filling up the empty posts reserved for quota on the basis of merit and taking effective measures to ensure a corruption-free, neutral and merit-based bureaucracy.

To realise their demand, the protesting students and job aspirants thronged in front of the Dhaka University Central Library. Students of Dhaka University (DU), seven government colleges in the capital under DU and educational institutions under the National University joined the protest. A procession was brought under the banner of ‘Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement’ which proceeded through different roads on the campus, Doyel Chattar, Supreme Court and ended at the Shahbagh intersection at around 3:45 pm.

The protesters then blocked Shahbagh intersection. The blockade continued for one and a half an hours, due to which vehicular movements through the Shahbagh intersection was halted. As a result, there was severe traffic congestion at the Shahbagh intersection and adjacent areas. Taking position on the road, the protesting students chanted various anti-quota slogans.

DU sociology department student Nahid Islam and zoology department student Sarjis Alam, who are leading the movement, addressed the demonstrating students. Besides, an offspring of freedom fighters, a female and physically impaired student also gave speeches supporting the movement.

The blockade continued for one and a half an hours, due to which vehicular movements through the Shahbagh intersection was halted.

Vehicular movement resumed after the students lifted the blockade at 5:12 pm. Before that, Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement coordinator Nahid Islam told the newspersons, “We expect the court verdict on the hearing of the appeal against the decision to cancel the circular revoking the quota system to come in our favour. We will take position in front of the DU Central Library again on Thursday.”

Another coordinator of the movement, Sarjis Alam said they would wait until the hearing was finished.

Prothom Alo’s JU correspondent reported that the students of the university blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway to press their four-point demand, including the cancellation of the quota system in government jobs and reinstatement of the circular of merit-based recruitment. They blocked the road in front of the main entrance of the university at around 3:15 pm, which created severe traffic congestion on either side of the road. The students lifted the blockade at around 5:30 pm in the afternoon.

Prothom Alo’s CU correspondent reports that the students of the university blocked the Chattogram-Khagrachhari highway at the Gate-1 area of the university. The demonstration continued till 1:30 pm, which created severe traffic congestion on either side of the road. The students staged a demonstration under the banner of ‘Anti-discriminatory Student Movement Chittagong University’.

Prothom Alo’s staff correspondent in Barishal said the students of the Barishal University blocked the Barishal-Kuakata road in front of the campus at around 11:15 am causing much suffering to the passengers of the buses stuck on the road.

Prothom Alo’s BAU correspondent said students of the university halted a moving commuter train for around an hour during their protests against the reinstatement of quota system in government recruitments. The BAU students also held two protest rallies on the campus at different times on Wednesday.

At around 12:00 pm, over three hundred students gathered on the Mukto Mancha premises and marched through the KR Market before returning to the beginning spot for a protest rally.

Later, they held another procession from the Mukto Manch to the Abdul Jabbar intersection on the campus. They blocked a commuter train during the procession at 1:20 pm that was heading from Dhaka to Mohanganj. The train resumed its journey at 2:20 pm when the students called off their protest programme.

Addressing the programme, Mashsharat Maliha, a postgraduate student from the veterinary science faculty, expressed her utter discontent with the authorities’ handling of the quota system.

“Six years after 2018, we have been forced to protest again about the same quota system. Can this be called development? After all these, we have now been brought back by six years,” she said.

She expressed concerns about using the liberation war to uphold discrimination, saying, “If the freedom fighter quota remains, the sacrifice made in 1971 against discrimination becomes meaningless. We definitely respect our national heroes, but we will not accept any form of quota or discrimination.”

She demanded a completely merit-based evaluation in university admissions, job recruitments, and other competitions.

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu