Quota Wars

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Clashes among groups of university students broke out across Bangladesh this week, leaving five people dead and dozens injured in protests against a scheme setting quotas for government jobs that go to war veterans’ relatives – which critics say benefits the ruling party, the Associated Press reported.

The deaths occurred in the capital, Dhaka, after rival groups of students – some opposing the quota system and others supporting it – fought each other Monday and Tuesday, wielding wooden sticks and iron rods at campuses across the country. Protesters also blocked railways and roads.

Under the quota system, 30 percent of government jobs must be reserved for descendants of soldiers who fought for Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, locally known as “freedom fighters.” Other, smaller quotas are designated for women, minorities and residents of specific districts, leaving only 40 percent of job applications based on merit, Al Jazeera explained.

The quota scheme was abolished in 2018, but Dhaka’s High Court said last month it had to be reinstated, triggering the first wave of protests.

Critics say the freedom fighters’ 30 percent share was unfair and affected their prospective job prospects – government jobs in Bangladesh are some of the most stable and well-paid in the country.

“The students protesting are not pushing for the complete abolition of quotas; rather, they are advocating for a reasonable percentage of quotas,” activist Saiyed Abdullah told Al Jazeera. Protesters have not questioned quotas for minorities.

Last week, the Supreme Court suspended the scheme for a month.

Meanwhile, observers said protests only ignited after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday called the anti-quota protesters descendants of “Razakars” – fighters who collaborated with the Pakistani army in 1971 during the war of independence.

While anti-quota protesters say they are apolitical, pro-government students accused the opposition parties of supporting the anti-quota protesters.

“An attempt is being made to transform the anti-quota movement into an anti-state one using the emotions of young students,” said Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud.

Meanwhile, critics argued that the quota scheme benefits the party of Hasina because she enjoys the support of freedom fighters’ relatives.

The prime minister easily won a fourth term in January after an electoral boycott from the opposition.