Bangladesh top court scraps job quotas that caused deadly unrest
Al Jazeera
The top court scales back – but does not abolish – a contentious quota system that sparked deadly protests.
Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has scrapped most of the quotas on government jobs that led to student-led protests in which more than 100 people have been killed, according to local media.
The court’s Appellate Division dismissed a lower court order that had reinstated the quotas last month.
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin told the AFP news agency: “The Supreme Court has said the High Court verdict was illegal.”
He added that 5 percent of civil service jobs would remain reserved for children of independence war veterans and 2 percent for other categories. Previously, 30 percent of the jobs were reserved for the relatives of war veterans.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government scrapped the quota system in 2018, but the lower court reinstated it last month, sparking deadly protests and an ensuing government crackdown.
