Protesters issue 24hr ultimatum to reform quota system
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Demanded the withdrawal of cases filed against them
The protesters, under the banner of the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement, have issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the government, demanding logical reforms to the quota system in all grades of government jobs.
They called for an emergency parliamentary session to address their demand.
The protesters made this announcement after submitting a memorandum to the military secretary to the president at Bangabhaban on Sunday.
They also demanded the withdrawal of cases filed against them over Thursday’s incident in Shahbagh, calling them "false and fabricated."
A group of 12 students entered Bangabhaban to submit the memorandum in the afternoon.
The group included coordinators and assistant coordinators Sarjis Alam, Nahid Islam, Rifat Rashid, Hasib, and Baker, among others. They were led by the police.
After submitting the memorandum, Nahid Islam stated: "The quota system should be reformed through appropriate laws by the law department. If the government had intervened from the beginning, the movement would not have escalated to this point. Since the government did not intervene, we have come to the president. We call for an emergency parliamentary session within the next 24 hours to address our demand. We will monitor the situation and announce the next steps if there is no visible progress."
Another coordinator, Sarjis Alam, added: "We have informed the president's military secretary that the 5% quota for minorities and the disabled should be retained, but the remaining quotas should be abolished. We hope the president will consider our demands."
Earlier in the morning, students from different colleges and universities, demanding the reform of the quota system in government jobs, gathered with banners at Dhaka University’s Central Library around 11 am.
Their march was briefly halted by police at Gulistan, leading the protesters to stay there to maintain order.
Over a hundred police officers, along with barricades, have been deployed across the country.
On June 5, the High Court ordered the government to restore the 30% quota for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters in the recruitment of various cadre services. Following this order, university students across the country began protesting against the quota system in government jobs.
On October 4, 2018, the government issued a circular abolishing all 56% quotas—30% for descendants of freedom fighters, 10% for women, 10% for people from underdeveloped districts, 5% for ethnic communities, and 1% for the physically challenged—in the civil service after student protests.