Sri Lanka shows support for Bangladesh student protest

The main message of the solidarity protest staged despite police presence, urged Sheikh Hasina to cease killing students and repeal the illegal 30% job quota immediately.

Last evening (22nd of July), a demonstration took place near the Bangladesh High Commission in Colombo over the Police’s actions towards protesting students in Bangladesh. There was a significant Police presence at the demonstration close to the Bangladesh High Commission in Colombo.

Numerous people, including university students, civil society members, and youth activists, participated in the protest for human rights.

Protesters assembled close to the High Commission, displaying signs and chanting slogans in solidarity with Bangladesh student protesters during the peaceful demonstration.

On Sunday, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court eliminated the majority of quotas for Government jobs that had caused student-led protests resulting in the deaths of at least 114 individuals in the South Asian nation.

According to the foreign media reports, the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division ordered that 93% of government jobs must be filled based on merit, without any quotas, ignoring a lower court’s ruling, as stated by Bangladesh Attorney General AM Amin Uddin to Reuters News.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the students who were protesting claimed they were not part of the violence, and the government would identify those responsible for it.

Media reports stated that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government eliminated the quota system in 2018, but it was recently reinstated by the lower court, capping total quotas at 56%, leading to protests and a subsequent government crackdown.

Students of Sri Jayawardenepura University also held a solidarity protest on July 18 in support of the Bangladeshi youth protesters and against the violence against youth protesters.