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What civil service reforms did student protesters demand in Bangladesh in 2024?

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Francisco Goya, Saturn — Generation Z protests In Greek and Roman myth the old god consumes his children to preserve his power. In many countries today the young face a version of the same fate: priced out of housing, burdened by debt, and taxed to sustain the pensions and property wealth of older generations.

In 2024, student protesters in Bangladesh initiated mass demonstrations to demand an overhaul of the selection criteria for civil service jobs.31

The movement specifically targeted the reinstatement of a quota system that reserved 30 percent of government positions for the relatives of veterans who fought in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Protesters argued that this affirmative action policy unfairly favored supporters of the ruling Awami League party and questioned the necessity of providing preferential treatment to third-generation descendants of freedom fighters.2

While the Supreme Court eventually rolled back the quotas to a large extent, the protests had already expanded into a broader anti-government movement fueled by grievances regarding unemployment, corruption, and political repression, ultimately leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed.321