Bangladesh Protests: Top court fails to quell unrest despite scaling back job quota

Amidst the civil protests going on in Bangladesh, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India said in a statement that 4500 Indian students have returned safely to the union of India. The High Commission of India in Dhaka, along with the Assistant High Commissions in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet worked to ease the way for the students to return securely.

The statement of the MEA went as follows, “The high commission has been making arrangements for security escorts for the safe travel of Indian nationals to the border crossing points”. The ministry has also been coordinating with various land and airports to make the situation easier.

Death Toll in Bangladesh Job Quota Civil Unrest

The protests led by Bangladeshi students have turned into violent civil clashes that have resulted in 151 deaths. Demonstrations began when politicised admission quotas were introduced for coveted government jobs. But that has turned into a heinous massacre of human lives as the unrest turned into the most violent civil clash during PM Sheikh Hasina’s Tenure.

Bangladeshi Supreme Court Verdict

As the unrest intensified, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruled out the quotas by questioning the legality of the hiring scheme declaring the High Court’s decision of introducing the aforesaid scheme as illegal. The Supreme court skimmed out the reserved jobs from 56% to 7% but that didn’t pacify the student protesters and the result has been a heart wrenching battle that is going on between the armed forces and students. Students and civilians are being killed randomly.

Student Protesters’ Statement

A spokesperson of the Student’s Against Discrimination, the group leading the protests expressed acceptance of the court’s decision subject to conditions. The statement was as follows, “We accept the Supreme Court’s verdict but we don’t call off the protests till the government issues an order reflecting our demands.”