The quota system in recruitment for the government service has been abolished. Thank God for that, although the system remains alive for the third and fourth class employees.
Public opinion is in favour of abolishing the system for the 1st and 2nd class employees, but people also want quotas for women and the minority groups for several more years to help empower them.
Many may differ and I am sure some will not hesitate to call me names, but I firmly believe that the decision taken by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is correct and far-sighted.
Let us take the case of the Freedom Fighters’ quota which gobbled up 56 percent of the jobs for people who would not otherwise get government employment. That is causing harm to the nation as low-merit people cannot give the kind of services required to take our Bangladesh forward.
My parents were martyred in 1971 when I was about 10 years old. But in 2018, who are the direct children of the martyrs is a question that needs to be addressed. None. At best if pushed it could be availed of by our children. How can it go on for generations? What logic the pro-Freedom Fighters’ quota demonstrators can give?
They have raised the issue of insulting the martyrs. I do not agree. By this abolition, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has restored a part of the pride and glory of the freedom fighters. How? People and educational institutions will not look down on the great-great-grandchildren of the martyrs as they would compete with others and make their place.
After independence two words became very common – Shaheed Family. Most ran for benefits under that banner from property to business. It is understood the families needed to ensure their future and thus ran after such programmes undertaken by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
What happened after he was assassinated in 1975? Those two words were put in the bin and we were treated as foul-smelling garbage. We stopped identifying ourselves as the children of a martyr to avoid being looked down upon.
However, the quota was used by post-1975 governments as an example of their pity for the Shaheed Families, while in reality most of these families were ignored and not given the due honour.
I submit that this quota made children of Shaheed Families smaller in the eyes of others and they were seen as “less competent” than the others. Do the demonstrators who protest for restoring the Shaheed Freedom Fighters quota want their great-great-grandchildren to face such humiliation eternally?
I remember I was invited to give a talk on how I found my martyred father’s grave after 36 years of search at Rotary meeting at Sonargaon Hotel. There were many questions, but one of them made my day.
One Rotarian sarcastically told me that my story was sad, but then I had also received a lot as a member of a Shaheed Family. What did you get? He asked. I was shocked but proudly replied: “Nothing. You can do a check to confirm what I am telling you. I had a proud and dignified mother who did not run after such special facilities or allowed me to use any quota to study when I could not give a test in Architecture in Bangladesh University and Technology (BUET). My mother told me to go the Dhaka University and choose a subject which will not require any quota use and will be useful for my career.”In fact, she did not even get what was her due.
We faced shortages, we had problems, but we survived – with dignity. Isn’t that the most important thing in our lives and isn’t it great to be treated with respect?
Please learn to accept that the martyrs did not sacrifice their lives to take anything in return. They gave us Bangladesh for us and we need to live with dignity as they would surely want. If we live with the dignity they are honoured. Please, let us give them the due honour.
Don’t we have enough to lead a decent life? The children of the martyrs are now established in many ways to earn their own bread, so why seek pity.
The premier has said “Always look before you leap. You will realize how you are, whenever you will see the people who are in hardship then you.”
Allah has looked after us. Some better than others, but we are alive and kicking. Joy Bangla.

A senior journalist, Nadeem Qadir is UN Dag Hammarskjöld fellow