Protesters to decide next course of action Thursday

Students and job-seekers demanding quota reform in the civil service will take a call about their next course of action on Thursday.

Their statement comes minutes after a peeved Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke in Parliament on Wednesday about abolishing the quota system altogether.

In response to the prime minister’s announcement, the protesters gathered in front of Raju Memorial Sculpture on the Dhaka University campus in the evening.

Addressing the gathering, Bangladesh General Students’ Rights Protection Council joint convenor Nurul Haque said, “We have heard prime minister’s speech. After analysing her speech, we’ll take our next course action tomorrow.”

From Sunday, thousands of students and job-seekers have been staging protests that began at the Dhaka University campus against the government's decision to set aside 56 percent of civil service jobs for the families of freedom fighters and disadvantaged people.

That leaves most university graduates to fight for only 44 percent of the jobs.

In the early hours of Monday, police fired rubber bullets and teargas at the students demonstrating against what they consider ‘discriminatory’ government job quotas in favour of special groups.

The students started the movement to press for their five-point demand that include introduction of a uniform age limit in government jobs, review of quota system in government recruitment process, stopping job seekers from taking quota benefits more than once, filling vacant posts from merit list if the candidates from quota are not found and setting a 10 percent quota for jobs instead of existing 56 percent.

Following Monday’s meeting with the representatives of agitating students, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader announced the movement will be deferred until May 7 and the government would study the existing quota system and give a decision by that time.

However, when the student representatives returned to the campus, a faction of agitators refused to pause the agitation, creating division among themselves.

But after 5pm on Tuesday, the protesters sank their differences after Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury 'termed them sons of razakars' and Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said the quota reform is not possible before the next budget.

The agitating students marched on the Dhaka University campus in a show of strength and set fire to an effigy of Matia. They asked that the ministers apologise for their ‘derogatory comments’.