10 July 2024: Court orders month-long status quo, protesters refuse to back down

The Bangla Blockade continued on 10 July 2024 in protest against the discriminatory quota system in government jobs, bringing roadways, highways and railways across the country to a standstill.  

Shahbagh was the epicentre of the blockade. The protesters staged sit-ins at various key intersections in Dhaka and other major cities. In the capital alone, they blocked at least 18 vital points crucial for vehicular movement. 

The movement largely cut off the capital Dhaka from the rest of the country. 

On that day, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ordered a month-long status quo on the High Court's judgment to reinstate the freedom fighter quota system, meaning the quota system would not be in force for a month, and the 2018 government circular abolishing the quotas would be in effect for the said period.

However, the protesting students announced they would press on with their demonstrations until the government formed a commission to reform the quota system and the parliament passed a law to this effect.

"We'll relent only if we get word from the highest executive position that the quota system will be reformed through a commission," Sarjis Alam, one of the key coordinators, said at the Shahbagh intersection.

"Our demand is not directed to the court but to the executive branch. The court is dealing with the 2018 circular, and any decision may arise from that. But our one-point demand can only be fulfilled by the executive branch of the government," he added. 

The then-Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal urged the agitating students to accept the directive of court about the quota system in the government jobs. 

"Be patient, accept the court's directive on the quota system. People will suffer if the students sit on the street blocking vehicular movement. The law enforcement agencies will not be strict with students, but the suffering of people will mount if they occupy city streets," he said.

Former Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat also urged the quota protesters to call off their street demonstration.

He wrote on his verified Facebook page, "You [protesters] should carefully observe that the Supreme Court has issued a status quo on the subject matter, which means the government circular issued regarding the quota system in government jobs has been restored again."

Therefore, Arafat said, all should refrain from carrying out any such activity that creates public sufferings. 

However, at the end of the day coordinator Asif Mahmud announced that there would be another round of 'Bangla Blockade' across the country on roads and railway tracks the next day. Students across the country would carry out the blockade at their nearest points.