Bangladesh introduced a quota system for public service jobs in 1972,6 soon after winning the war of independence from Pakistan.7 Some positions were earmarked, inter alia for ‘freedom fighters’ of the war for whom 30 % of positions were reserved. Quotas were also introduced for ‘marginalised communities’,8 including women, ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and people from underrepresented districts.9 As the number of people claiming positions for ‘freedom fighters’ started to dwindle with time,10 this quota was extended to include their children in 1997, and their grandchildren in 2010.11 In summer 2018, students took the streets to protest against the quota system,12 which grew into nationwide protests.13 As a result, the government cancelled the quota for first- and second class posts.14 Almost six years later, on 5 June 2024, the High Court overturned the decision,15 meaning that the quotas were to be re-established.16 This provoked new student protests in July 2024,17 calling for a merit-based recruitment system.18
Critics have been describing the quota system as discriminatory,19 in practice benefitting individuals loyal to Hasina’s government, and even functioning as a form of political patronage to consolidate power.20 Frustration over the increasingly autocratic rule under Hasina also underpinned the protests.21 By summer 2024, Hasina and her party, the Awami League, had been in consecutive power for 15 years,22 and had won a new five-year term in January 2024 – in elections that were boycotted by the main opposition, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).23
The protests were also underpinned by an economic frustration,24 as there have been limited economic opportunities, in particular for youth to secure adequate jobs.25 Chaumtoli Huq, Professor of Law at the CUNY School of Law in New York, who specialise in human rights and labour rights and has carried out research in Bangladesh, likened the reintroduction of the quota system with a ‘match that lit’ the frustration over longstanding political repression, economy, corruption, and non-independence of the judiciary.26
- 6
FP, What’s Behind Bangladesh’s Student Protests?, 18 July 2024, url
- 7
AP, Born in war, Bangladesh marks 50 years of independence, 24 March 2021, url
- 8
Daily Star (The), History of the quota system in Bangladesh, 10 July 2024, url
- 9
Daily Star (The), History of the quota system in Bangladesh, 10 July 2024, url; FP, What’s Behind Bangladesh’s Student Protests?, 18 July 2024, url
- 10
Daily Star (The), History of the quota system in Bangladesh, 10 July 2024, url; Dhaka Tribune, Quota vs merit in govt jobs: Who passed the exams?, 16 July 2024, url
- 11
Daily Star (The), History of the quota system in Bangladesh, 10 July 2024, url; New York Times (The), Bangladesh Scales Back Policy on Public-Sector Hiring That Sparked Unrest, 21 July 2024, url
- 12
HRW, “Creating Panic”, December 2018, url, p. 6
- 13
Daily Star (The), History of the quota system in Bangladesh, 10 July 2024, url; AI, What is happening at the quota-reform protests in Bangladesh?, 29 July 2024, url
- 14
Daily Star (The), History of the quota system in Bangladesh, 10 July 2024, url; Dhaka Tribune, Quota reform leaders voice support for pro-quota protests, 7 October 2018, url
- 15
Daily Star (The), Cancellation of 30pc quota for freedom fighters’ children in civil service illegal: HC, 5 June 2024, url; Al Jazeera, What’s behind Bangladesh’s violent quota protests?, 16 July 2024, url
- 16
Daily Star (The), History of the quota system in Bangladesh, 10 July 2024, url
- 17
Daily Star (The), History of the quota system in Bangladesh, 10 July 2024, url; AI, What is happening at the quota-reform protests in Bangladesh?, 29 July 2024, url
- 18
FP, What’s Behind Bangladesh’s Student Protests?, 18 July 2024, url; New York Times (The), Bangladesh Scales Back Policy on Public-Sector Hiring That Sparked Unrest, 21 July 2024, url
- 19
FP, What’s Behind Bangladesh’s Student Protests?, 18 July 2024, url
- 20
FP, What’s Behind Bangladesh’s Student Protests?, 18 July 2024, url; Huq, C. in: LPE Project, The Bangladesh Student Movement that Transformed a Nation, 10 September 2024, url; Guardian (The), Bangladesh student protests turn into ‘mass movement against a dictator’, 26 July 2024, url
- 21
Guardian (The), Bangladesh student protests turn into ‘mass movement against a dictator’, 26 July 2024, url
- 22
Huq, C. in: LPE Project, The Bangladesh Student Movement that Transformed a Nation, 10 September 2024, url; BBC News, Sheikh Hasina: The pro-democracy icon who became an autocrat, 6 August 2024, url
- 23
BBC News, Bangladesh election: PM Sheik Hasina wins fourth term in controversial vote, 8 January 2024, url
- 24
Huq, C. in: LPE Project, The Bangladesh Student Movement that Transformed a Nation, 10 September 2024, url; AFP, Explainer: What’s Behind Bangladesh’s Deadly Protests?, 31 July 2024, url; Benar News, Top Bangladesh court rolls back quotas that sparked deadly civil unrest, 21 July 2024, url
- 25
Huq, C. in: LPE Project, The Bangladesh Student Movement that Transformed a Nation, 10 September 2024, url; Benar News, Top Bangladesh court rolls back quotas that sparked deadly civil unrest, 21 July 2024, url
- 26
Huq, C. in: LPE Project, The Bangladesh Student Movement that Transformed a Nation, 10 September 2024, url