As the sun rose on July 31, 2024, thousands of students, teachers, and citizens across Bangladesh prepared to join the March for Justice, a countrywide programme organised by Students Against Discrimination.
On July 29, 2024, the Awami League-led 14-party alliance recommended that the government ban Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, citing their alleged involvement in anti-state activities.
By July 28, more than 2.13 lakh people—most of them unnamed—had been accused in nearly 200 cases filed with police stations across the capital in connection with the recent violence centring the quota reform movement.
On July 23, 2024, the government issued a circular radically overhauling the quota system in public service recruitment. According to the new directive, 93 percent of civil service positions would now be filled through merit-based recruitment, up from the previous 44 percent, while the remaining 7 percent would be reserved under various quotas.
At least seven people were killed and dozens injured in sporadic clashes between law enforcers and protesters in Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Narsingdi on July 21, 2024 -- the second day of a nationwide curfew.
The first day of the nationwide curfew, imposed late on the night of July 19, was marked by widespread unrest and violence that left at least 21 people dead and scores injured across Dhaka and other parts of the country.
By July 19, 2024, Bangladesh stood at the brink of collapse as the quota reform movement spiralled into its deadliest phase.
On the public holiday marking Ashura, Dhaka and other parts of the country witnessed unrelenting student protests, road and highway blockades, symbolic funeral prayers, coffin processions, and repeated clashes with police and pro-government activists.
July 16, 2024, marked a grim escalation in the quota reform protests as violence swept across Bangladesh, leaving at least six people dead, including three students, and hundreds injured in fierce clashes involving protesters, Chhatra League activists, and police..In Chattogram, three peop
On July 14, 2024, tensions flared as hundreds of students poured out of their DU dormitories to protest a “disparaging comment” made by then–prime minister Sheikh Hasina regarding quotas in government jobs.
On July 13, 2024, the Students Against Discrimination announced a fresh set of protest programmes, shifting their strategy from blockades to processions and symbolic marches.
Despite the weekly holiday, anti-quota protesters once again blocked the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka, demanding reforms to the quota system in government jobs and condemning the police action on students the previous day.
On July 11, 2024, the anti-quota movement entered a new phase of confrontation. Ignoring police warnings and ministers’ calls to step back, thousands of protesters defied barricades and took to the streets as part of their “Bangla Blockade.”
July 10, 2024.Protesters refuse to back down.Shamsuddoza Sajen.The protests over the quota system in government jobs showed no signs of slowing down on July 10 as students across the country vowed to continue their movement despite the Supreme Court’s order for a four-week stat
The ongoing Bangla Blockade paused for a day as students leading the quota reform movement prepared for their next round of protests.
For the second consecutive day, the Bangla Blockade grips the capital, with thousands of students and jobseekers bringing traffic to a standstill at key intersections across Dhaka.
Beyond Dhaka, protesters hold the streets with equal resolve
Even on a holiday, the quota reform protests show no sign of slowing. Students across Bangladesh take to the streets, block roads, form human chains, and voice their rejection of the reinstated quota system in government jobs.
Defying the rain, they sat on the streets, waving banners and shouting slogans
