Bangladesh’s top court was due to rule on Sunday on the future of civil service recruitment rules that triggered nationwide clashes between police and university students that left 133 people dead.
The protests, which began against political quotas for entry into government jobs, this week turned into the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure.
Soldiers are patrolling Bangladesh’s cities after riot control police failed to restore order, while a nationwide internet blackout since Thursday has largely restricted the flow of information to the outside world.
The Supreme Court will meet later on Sunday to rule on whether to end the controversial job quota.
Hasina, whose opponents accuse her government of bending the judiciary to its will, indicated to the public this week that the plan would be scrapped.
But after growing repression and mounting deaths, a favourable verdict is unlikely to assuage the simmering public anger.
“This is no longer a matter of students’ rights,” Hasibul Sheikh, a 24-year-old businessman, told AFP during a street protest held in violation of a nationwide curfew in the capital Dhaka on Saturday.
“Now we have only one demand and that is the resignation of the government.”
The catalyst for this month’s unrest is a system that reserves more than half of civil service posts for specific groups, including children of veterans who took part in the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.
Critics say the plan will benefit families loyal to 76-year-old Hasina, who has ruled the country since 2009 and won a fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without any real opposition.
Human rights groups have accused Hasina’s government of abusing state institutions to consolidate its grip on power and suppress dissent, including through extrajudicial killings of opposition activists.
‘The situation has gotten worse’
Bangladesh is unable to provide enough employment opportunities for its 170 million people, so the quota scheme is a major source of resentment among young graduates, who are facing a severe employment crisis.
Hasina further escalated tensions this month when she compared protesters to Bangladeshis who collaborated with Pakistan during the country’s independence war.
“Rather than addressing protesters’ grievances, the government’s actions have made the situation worse,” Pierre Prakash, Asia director at Crisis Group, told AFP.
Hasina was scheduled to leave the country on Sunday for a diplomatic visit to Spain and Brazil but cancelled her plans after a week of escalating violence.
At least 133 people, including several police officers, have been killed in clashes across the country since Tuesday, according to an AFP tally of casualties provided by police and hospitals.
The US State Department on Saturday warned Americans against travelling to Bangladesh and said it would begin evacuating some diplomats and their families from the country because of civil unrest.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
