When the Supreme Court ruled that the quota for government jobs reserved for families of veterans could only be up to 5%, the month of July 2024 saw the Quota Reform Movement evolve into a strong resurgence. We can already see the tensions that have been building up in the recent years because many young people consider the quota system to be old and unjust. With a combination of university students, recent graduates, and job seekers, large demonstrations erupted with calls for more merit-based recruitment processes instead of quotas. it wasn’t long after that large protests spread to major cities such as Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi.
Students and Youth at the Heart of the Movement
The recent protests were largely fueled by students affiliated with major universities and institutions, namely Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University.
Slogans like “No quota without merit” and “We want equal rights” were common across campuses and public squares. Social media raised their cause, leading to some slogans going viral with hashtags, which went on to make WIRED and Variety headlines, and also national headlines. Many also called for transparency in government recruitment and for the abolition of discretionary quotas that tend to favor political elites.
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Security forces responded to protests in several locations with baton charges, arrests, and shots with teargas, which prompted calls from human rights organizations for restraint and dialogue. Overall, the protestors remained focused on a peaceful, managed structure for their protest, emphasizing civil resistance and organized demonstrations.
The Road Ahead: A Demand for Meritocracy
Government now has a problem. It needs to take the legitimate concerns of the families of freedom fighters and the concerns of merit-seeking youth. While the government considers changes to the quota policy, the overarching message from the streets is that there has to be a future for Bangladesh with equal opportunity.
Commentators speculate this movement may even produce a paradigm shift in public policy going forward or possibly impact the 2026 general election. No matter what strategy the government vaults into, be it reform or repression to quell the mobilized street protests, the calls for fairness and transparency in recruitment are unlikely to fade into the sunset. click here for source
