What’s behind Bangladesh’s violent quota protests?

Students demanding reforms in the quota system say they have come under attack from the government and its allies.

The two-week-long anti-quota protests in Bangladesh have turned violent after groups linked to the ruling party attacked student protesters in the capital, Dhaka.

More than 400 people were injured on Monday and Tuesday during attacks on protesters who are against the government job quota system amid rising unemployment in the South Asian nation.

The protests began on July 1 after the High Court reinstated the job quota that reserves one-third of civil service posts for children of fighters who participated in the country’s liberation movement in 1971.

So what triggered the current protests and why is the quota system facing opposition?

Students from government and private universities across Bangladesh are demanding reform in the conventional job quota system, under which more than half of much sought-after government jobs are reserved.

The protesters said they are not aligned with any political group and they want a merit-based system that is fair to all.

Fahim Faruki, a protester and third-year international relations student at Dhaka University, said the students organised the protests through a Facebook group and were not backed by any political organisation.

The protest movement has come to be known as the Students Against Discrimination movement. Thousands of students from Dhaka University in the capital as well as Chittagong University have staged sit-ins against the quota system.

On June 5, the High Court ordered the reinstatement of the 30 percent quota for children of freedom fighters, deeming the 2018 abolition of quotas illegal. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League had abolished the