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Quota Stir
At least two people were killed and 30 others injured Sunday in clashes between protestors and the ruling Awami League supporters on the outskirts of Dhaka as thousands of demonstrators gathered in Bangladesh's capital demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation. The clashes broke out this morning when protesters attending a non-cooperation programme to demand the government's resignation faced opposition from the supporters of the Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League activists. At least two people have been killed and 30 others injured in a clash between protestors and Awami League men in Munshiganj, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. Several cocktail explosions occurred during the incident, the paper said, adding that the identity of the deceased could not be known immediately. Meanwhile, hundreds of students and professionals gathered at Dhaka's Shahbagh, blocking traffic on all sides. The protesters under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Students Move
Police fired tear gas and charged with batons during violent clashes between a pro-government student body and student protesters overnight, leaving dozens injured at a public university outside Bangladesh's capital, police and students said Tuesday. The violence spread early Tuesday at Jahangir Nagar University in Savar, outside Dhaka, where the protesters were demanding an end to a government job quota for family members of heroes who fought in Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971. The quota system also reserves government jobs for women, disabled people and ethnic minority groups. The system was suspended in 2018, which brought similar protests to a halt at the time. But in a decision last month, Bangladesh's High Court asked for the 30% quota for veterans' descendants to be restored. That triggered fresh protests, with demonstrators supporting the 6% quota for disabled people and ethnic groups but not for the descendants of the independence war heroes. The Supreme Court las
People from scheduled tribes who convert to Islam or Christianity should not get any reservation benefits in education and government jobs because they have given up their religion, culture, traditions and ways of worshiping, said former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Kariya Munda on Sunday. The BJP leader was speaking at a rally organised here by Janjati Suraksha Manch, which is affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). A huge conspiracy is going on in the country under the garb of religious conversion of tribals. Our demand is that those tribals who convert to Islam or Christianity must not get any benefits of reservation meant for the tribals, he said. Those who got converted have changed their lifestyle, culture, marriage traditions, and ways of worshiping the almighty, he said. The way converted people from scheduled castes (SC) do not get any reservation benefits, a similar law should apply to the ST communities as well, said the former Lok Sabha deputy speaker. Accordi
The Haryana government will move the Supreme Court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court order quashing a law that provided 75 per cent reservation in private sector jobs to residents of the state, Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said on Saturday. We are examining the high court verdict and will soon move the Supreme Court, the JJP leader said in a statement here, asserting that the law was in the interest of the state and the industry. The high court's Friday decision was also a setback for Chautala as providing 75 per cent reservation in private sector jobs for state-domiciled candidates was a key poll promise of his Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) during the 2019 assembly polls. Chautala said the state government's intention was to give employment to local youths and provide skilled workers to the industry. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, in its 83-page judgement, held the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, "ultra vires" and "unconstitutional", and