Explanation

The protests began as demonstrations against politicised admission quotas for sought-after government jobs. ‘Freedom fighter’ quota With around 18 million young people in Bangladesh out of work, according to government figures, the quota scheme’s reintroduction deeply upset graduates facing an acute job crisis. The Supreme Court decision curtailed the number of reserved jobs from 56 per cent of all positions to 7pc, most of which will still be set aside for the children and grandchildren of “freedom fighters” from the 1971 war. While 93pc of jobs will be awarded on merit, the decision fell short of protesters’ demands to scrap the “freedom fighter” category altogether. Critics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists to Hasina’s ruling Awami League.