Bangladesh top court to rule on controversial job quotas as death toll rises
Bangladesh's top court is set to rule on the legality of a disputed job quota law that has plunged the country into unprecedented deadly unrest amid a nationwide curfew.
Nationwide unrest broke out in Bangladesh following student anger against the quotas for government jobs, which included 30 percent reserved for the families of those who fought for independence from Pakistan.
Clashes between police and university students have so far resulted in the killing of 133 people.
The curfew ordered late on Friday has been extended to 3 pm (0900 GMT) on Sunday, until after the Supreme Court hearing to issue a verdict on whether to abolish the contentious job quotas.
Soldiers were patrolling the streets of Bangladeshi cities on Saturday to quell growing civil unrest sparked by the student demos, with riot police firing on protesters who defy a nationwide government curfew.
A nationwide internet blackout since Thursday has also drastically restricted the flow of information to the outside world.
What began as a student protest over much-sought government jobs snowballed this week into some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure.
Hasina, whose opponents accuse her government of bending the judiciary to her will, hinted to the public this week that the scheme would be scrapped.
But after the mounting crackdown and a rising death toll, a favorable verdict is unlikely to mollify white-hot public anger.
“It’s not about the rights of the students anymore,” business owner Hasibul Sheikh, 24, told AFP at the scene of a Saturday street protest, held in the capital Dhaka in defiance of the curfew. “Our demand is one point now, and that’s the resignation of the government.”
The present job quotas law benefits the families who are loyal to Hasina, according to her critics.
She has ruled the country since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without as serious opposition.
Her government is accused by her critics of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent.
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