By Mohammad Ponir Hossain
DHAKA (Reuters) – The Bangladesh government is expected to formally accept on Tuesday a court ruling to lower quotas for state jobs, media reported, meeting a key demand of the students who had been protesting for days.
Calm prevailed in Dhaka and most major cities in Bangladesh for a second day amid a curfew and an Internet and telecoms shutdown that the government imposed after the protests that erupted last week turned into one of the worst outbreaks of violence in recent years, killing almost 150 people.
The protesters wanted the government to overturn a high court decision last month that reinstated a quota system putting aside nearly 60% of government jobs for certain people, including families of those who fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence.
The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had scrapped the quotas in 2018.
On Sunday, the Supreme Court agreed to scrap most of the quotas and Hasina approved the verdict late on Monday.
The government’s acceptance of the court ruling is expected to be published in its formal record on Tuesday, media reports said, in line with one of the demands of the protesters.
Hasina on Monday blamed her political opponents for violence and said the curfew, imposed since Friday, would be lifted “whenever the situation gets better”.
The protesters have given the government 48 hours to meet 8 demands, which include a public apology from Hasina and the reopening of the university campuses that were shut when the violence began.
Malaysia on Tuesday joined the list of countries trying to evacuate its citizens from Bangladesh because of the violence, with the foreign ministry saying the flight was expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday afternoon.
India also said at least 4,500 Indian students had returned home over the last few days from Bangladesh.
(Writing by Sakshi Dayal; editing by Miral Fahmy)
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