Bangladesh Scales Back Policy on Public-Sector Hiring That Sparked Unrest

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Sunday drastically reduced the number of government jobs reserved for war veterans and their descendants, a momentous decision spurred by violent student protests that had resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people and brought the country to a standstill.

Under the court’s orders, Bangladesh will now reserve only 5 percent of government jobs for the children and grandchildren of those who fought for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, according to Shah Monjurul Hoque, a lawyer representing student groups. That is down from a quota of 30 percent for the group.

The court ruling also orders the reduction of quotas for some other groups, and abolishes quotas for women and those from certain districts. It cuts the quota of jobs for ethnic minorities to 1 percent, down from 5 percent, but leaves in place the 1 percent of jobs that are already reserved for those with disabilities.

In all, the ruling shrinks the number of reserved jobs to 7 percent from 56 percent, a move that will open up many more civil service jobs to university students, who had called the old system unfair and demanded its reform.

Since July 1, thousands of students have been protesting the reinstatement of the quota system, which had been abolished once, in 2018, before being restored this year.

The protests escalated into violence when the student wing of the Awami League, the political party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, began attacking the protesters. Last week, the government deployed the police and paramilitary forces to contain the violence, but the students did not back down. On Friday, the government declared a curfew and brought in the army to quell the protests.

The quota system was put in place by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, who led his country’s fight for independence from Pakistan. Mr. Rahman, the father of Ms. Hasina, reserved government jobs as a reward for those who fought in the war. In 1997, and then again in 2010, the quotas had been expanded to include the children and grandchildren of so-called freedom fighters.

Students had labeled it an unfair system and called for most of the government jobs to be filled on merit alone. In June, the high court had reintroduced the quotas after descendants of the freedom fighters made their case. When the protests began, the Supreme Court paused their reinstatement, pending a ruling, which arrived on Sunday.

In delivering its verdict, the top court also asked students to return to class, Mr. Hoque said.

“As the demands of students are met, they should stop the protests,” Am Amin Uddin, Bangladesh’s attorney general, told reporters after the verdict.