Quota or talent? Merit, Merit', 'Tools of Eighteen, Roar once more'...; The ongoing 'Bangla Blockade' with such slogans and movements. It is an extension of the 2018 quota reform movement. This movement would not have been renewed, had it not been for a judgment of the High Court last June, where the High Court declared invalid the circular canceling the quota of freedom fighters in government jobs. This judgment of the High Court brought back the quota system. However, the state has applied for the suspension of this judgment of the High Court. The Appellate Division will decide on this matter.
This student movement is led by ordinary students as before. But the time has not come to say that there is no one behind them. The quota reform movement of six years ago showed that some new student leaders were born from that movement. Especially Nurul Haque Noor. Noor then became the VP of Dacsu. A new political party was formed. He was in discussion for some time, but now he is in the losing party due to aimless political programs and unnecessary talk.
Although a new political party was born out of the quota reform movement, the question arose as to how many people joined the service on the basis of merit from that movement. Results are unknown. However, none of those who were in the leadership of that movement appeared in the government service examination. However, there are reports of the leaders of the quota reform movement owning the finances. The main leader of the movement, Nurul Haque Noor, became the owner of a huge fortune overnight. There has also been news of collecting money from the country and abroad for the movement and misappropriation of that money. And we witnessed how this money destroyed their post-movement political party.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke about the quota reform movement of 2018 and the current movement. She said, "Boys and girls are doing anti-quota movement by abandoning education. Girls do there too. I have a question here. Those who had protested against quota earlier, how many of them took the Public Service Commission exam and how many passed? That calculation needs to be figured out a bit. Let them show that they passed more tests. Girls passed more and got more jobs or not. Let them prove that first. The Prime Minister has left the matter to the court.
The Prime Minister is saying, 'It is sub-judice to protest against the High Court verdict because we cannot speak like this from the government. If the High Court gives a verdict, you will have to come again from the High Court. But I don't think there is any justification for wasting the time of studies which is being done again in the name of movement today.'
The Prime Minister has rightly said, "If the High Court gives a verdict, it will have to come again from the High Court". What the government has done here is appeal against the judgment of the High Court. In other words, the government has done what the protesting students are asking for. The recent judgment of the High Court on quota is against the government's decision. After the quota reform movement six years ago, the government accepted the demands of the agitators and canceled the quota system. What the High Court has done this time is that it has changed the government's decision. But here is the position of the government and the position of the agitating is not the same?
The point is, why does the freedom fighter quota come up again and again in the discussion about the quota? Why does a group of people get excited when they hear the name Mukti Joddha quota? Due to the insistence, the previous time the government canceled all the quotas and also canceled the freedom fighter quota. But the country will honor the freedom fighters, the best children of the nation, for life, and this is logical, it should be the rule. Maybe, there is confusion about the list of freedom fighters, there is no shortage of fake freedom fighters in the country, so will the youth of this generation bring the freedom fighters to the center of humiliation like this? Quota reform, why will the freedom fighters be repeatedly outraged when the name of quota cancellation is mentioned? Shouldn't we consider this insult to the nation's best children as dishonesty?
The movement on quota and this unstable situation this time is not government-created. This reaction after the High Court verdict. The government is not the authority to accept that movement, that demand; The authority to accept or review it is the High Court of the country. The role of the government is supporting the demands of the agitators. The state appealed against the High Court's verdict. Even if the government wants to ignore the court, it will not be able to publish any new circular.
The ongoing 'Bangla Blockade' program on quota is a sub- judice matter. High Court's verdict against the government's quota cancellation circular. Its settlement should naturally come from the court. It is true that the positive role of the state is needed here, but the final decision must come from the court. I do not see the responsibility of the government here considering the power of the court and the limitation of the government on the issue of the court. However, at this time, many people want to say, even if in a weak voice, that mass awakening of 2013 was against the judgment of the court. It is an absolute lie because the highest punishment for war criminals was a popular demand, and the government amended the law to meet this popular demand.
In the face of protests, the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) has not commuted war criminal Kader Mollah's life sentence to death. Rather, later the death sentence came through the judicial process. There the government amended the law, not affecting the court ruling. As a result, those who want to bring forward the public awakening of 2013, are not doing the right thing, they are not talking rationally.
The solution to the stalemate over quota is not in the hands of the government. It is a pending matter. The government's position on quota and the position of the agitators is not in opposite pole. The order that came from the High Court declared the government's circular null and void. The government has appealed against the judgment of the High Court. What the protesters want, the government also wants.
Instead of making politics about it, we are waiting for the verdict of the highest court of the country.