Students of Rajshahi University on Thursday staged demonstrations protesting against the High Court order that asked the government to restore 30 per cent quota for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters while recruiting cadre and non-cadre officers in the civil service.
Several hundreds of RU students formed a human chain in front of the university central library and later brought out a protest procession on the campus protesting against the HC order.
Addressing the human chain, RU law department student Sanjida Akhter said that reinstatement of the previous quota system in the civil service was not only illogical but also a clear discrimination to the common students.
鈥楢ccording to the HC鈥檚 verdict, only 44 per cent vacancies are to be filled up from merit list while the remaining 56 per cent are to be filled under various quotas. It is like the discrimination towards East Pakistan during the Pakistan period,鈥� she said.
Islamic history and culture department physically challenged student Al Amin said that they respect the freedom fighters and want to move forward with the spirit of the liberation war. 鈥楤ut, we will not accept any discrimination in the name of quota system,鈥� he added.
Population science and human resource development student Amanullah Aman said that the HC order to reinstate the 30 per cent quota for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters was one kind of deception to them who took the street in 2018 demanding abolition of all kinds of quota in the government jobs.
The demonstrators also announced that they would continue their movement until their demand was met.
On October 4, 2018, the government issued a circular abolishing all the 56 per cent quotas in the public service in the wake of street protests by the public university students and jobseekers demanding reforms to the quota system introduced in 1972.
Until the abolition, about 56 per cent of government jobs were reserved for candidates from various quotas. Of this, 30 per cent were for freedom fighters鈥� children and grandchildren, 10 per cent for women, 10 per cent for people of underdeveloped districts, 5 per cent for members of indigenous communities and 1 per cent for physically challenged people.
On November 5, 1972, then government through an executive order introduced 30 per cent quota for freedom fighters and 10 per cent for women in the jobs at the government, semi-government, and defense and nationalised institutions.
On Wednesday, the HC declared 鈥榠llegal鈥� a part of the government circular issued on October 4, 2018 and asked the government to restore 30 per cent quota for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters while recruiting cadre and non-cadre officers in the civil service.
The court pronounced the verdict after disposing of a writ petition filed by Ohidul Islam, son of freedom fighter Md Foyez Uddin from Rahimgonj of Mymensingh, and six others in 2021 challenging the legality of abolishing 30 per cent quota for the dependents of freedom fighters.听听
The dependents of the freedom fighters argued that the government abolished the freedom fighters鈥� quota in violation of a High Court verdict that on February 12, 2012 directed the government to maintain 30 per cent for the offspring of the freedom fighters in every appointment.
听
