Students promise to continue their protests against Bangladesh`s quota

The contentious government employment quota system in Bangladesh, which last week caused fatal upheaval across the country, is being scaled back by the Supreme Court. The ruling has calmed down the streets, but student leaders promise to continue their protests until important demands—such as the release of those who are in jail—are fulfilled and those in charge of the violence step down.

Bangladesh remains in black following a court decision:

Bangladesh's condition is still unknown because there is a curfew in place and communication is not available.

Earlier in the day, demonstrators and security personnel engaged in sporadic altercations, according to local media.

Most international phone calls were dropped, and media organisations with headquarters in Bangladesh had unupdated websites and inactive social media profiles.

After the Supreme Court decided in favour of student leaders challenging a contentious job-quota system, the leaders of the movement declared that they would not stop protesting until important demands are granted.

It would be interesting to watch if the ruling on job quotas by the highest court will quell the public's fervent outrage in the wake of the security forces' increasingly harsh crackdown and growing death toll.

Last week, a demonstration against partisan admission quotas for highly sought-after government positions turned into some of the worst turmoil under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's watch.

A non-profit organization called CIVICUS, which monitors civic freedoms around the globe, downgraded Bangladesh, China, and Venezuela to "closed" status last year due to crackdowns on the opposition and their supporters in the run-up to the country's January national election.

Pierre Prakash, Asia director of Crisis Group, stated that the government's measures have worsened the situation rather than attempting to address the demonstrators' issues.

How many individuals have been held during protests?

According to Tarique Rahman, the exiled interim chairman of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, many opposition party officials, activists, and student protestors have been arrested in the present crackdown.

Protesters claim that on Saturday, police detained prominent student coordinator Nahid Islam. However, it's not known how many of those were retained precisely. Protesters promised to keep going until their fellows are released.

Last Tuesday, the protests turned fatal, one day after Dhaka University students started fighting with police. Police used tear gas, live shots and smoke grenades to disperse demonstrators who were throwing stones, and the violence only got worse.