Indian interests at stake as Bangladesh remains tense; court scraps job quota
Bangladesh situation remaining tense and volatile, notwithstanding the decision by the country's Supreme Court on Sunday to scrap the student reservation policy which is the genesis of the current crisis.
Opposition BNP through the Jamaat-e-Islami has threatened to unseat the Hasina government and has launched a campaign to influence the country's Army to prevent it from safeguarding the dispensation. A fake letter signed by «junior officers» of Bangladesh Army was circulated with an aim to pressurise the Army Chief to take a neutral stand. Dhaka-based sources told ET that the country's security establishment is backing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
On Sunday Bangladesh's Supreme Court scrapped most of the quotas that have sparked protests and in which at least 114 people have been killed. The Supreme Court's Appellate Division dismissed a lower court order that had reinstated the quotas, directing that 93% of government jobs will be open to candidates on merit, without quotas, reports said.
The Hasina-led government had scrapped the quota system in 2018, but the lower court reinstated it last month, sparking the protests that were later hijacked by the radicals and BNP. The students have also put forward a nine-point demand agenda that includes an apology from the PM, sacking of two senior ministers and certain concessions to students.
Sources from Dhaka said that the Hasina government is reviewing the demands.
In New Delhi, top brass of the Indian government is closely monitoring the situation. Instability
