“Protests in Bangladesh put an end to a corrupt quota system”, The Economist, April 21, 2018. The ruling Awami League reserves 30% of public posts for descendants of those who fought in the war of liberation from Pakistan in 1971 (a further 26% go to other groups). The students were agitating since February, 2018 against the unjust quota system of the government drawn on political line, which grossly disenfranchised the general people from equal opportunity in obtaining government jobs. A popular protest has finally put an end to this system.

Comment:

It’s a known fact that the government used the discriminatory quota system to bribe a handful of its loyal people at the expense of the greater population. In a secular democracy, where interest drives all matters, governments in the name of pro-people governance tend to create a vested interest group to cling on to power, alienating the vast majority population of the country. The disregard towards peoples’ demand has been expressed by the government leaders when they dubbed the movement as ‘conspiracy against the government’ or the act of “sons and daughters of razakars (the anti-liberation group in 1971)”. The disregard is also shown when the government arrested and tortured the leaders of the protest. Some of them were also ousted from their hostels.

When secular politics in Bangladesh has failed to generate sufficient employment for the people, they aggravated the suffering of people by stripping them off all rights for the sake of safeguarding their filthy interests. This is another aspect of secular democracy that people do not have any sacred immutable rights. The dominant groups always claim precedence of rights over others which lead the nation to a conflicting situation every now and then. But in Islamic governance system, the Khalifah (Caliph) is a guardian over the Ummah, and his utmost obligation is to create employment for the people as well as to protect their socio-economic rights which Allah (swt) has made him responsible for. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «الإِمَامُ الَّذِي عَلَى النَّاسِ رَاعٍ وَهْوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ» “The Imam is a guardian and he is responsible for his subjects.” (Agreed upon)

Also, the Khalifah will ensure removal of all sorts of discriminatory treatment towards the people in every aspect of their lives, and ensure their equitable access to justice, and wealth and properties of the nation.

Muhammad Mustafa

Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Wilayah Bangladesh