The July Movement began as a protest against the quota system in Bangladesh's public service sector. A quota framework for the Bangladesh Civil Service was introduced shortly after independence in 1972, under which 20% of positions were filled based on merit, 40% were reserved by district, 30% for the families of freedom fighters (those who fought against Pakistan in 1971), and 10% for survivors of sexual violence (birangona). The framework was a static document; it went through several permutations in subsequent years.
In 1997, the freedom-fighter quota was extended to their children, and where eligible candidates were not available, posts were reserved rather than reallocated. In 2010, the scheme expanded again to cover the grandchildren of freedom fighters. Since then, the state has maintained a configuration that reserved 56% of government jobs: 30% for descendants of freedom-fighters, 10% for women, 10% for under-represented districts, 5% for indigenous communities, and 1% for people with disabilities.
Intended to promote inclusion, the policy increasingly appeared inequitable: reserved seats were often left vacant, while higher-scoring candidates outside the purview of the quota were excluded. The perceived mismatch between disproportionately large reserved allocations and actual uptake fuelled discontent among students and jobseekers, culminating in three major waves of the quota reform movement in 2013, 2018 and 2024, which sought to redistribute recruitment in favour of meritorious candidates while narrowing the scope of reservations.
In 2018, the quota provision for Class I and II civil service posts was abolished by a government directive. However, it was reinstated through a High Court verdict on 5 June 2024, which led to nationwide student protests. In 2024, university students spearheaded what came to be known as the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement, calling for the removal of the 30% quota reserved for freedom fighters and their descendants and demanding a merit-based and fair recruitment process, especially in the context of rising graduate unemployment and economic pressures on middle- and lower-income families.
As students were brutally attacked and indiscriminately shot at by police, security forces, and ruling party student cadres, the quota reform movement quickly evolved into a broader uprising involving students and people from all walks of life. The July Resolve documents that transformation through testimonies, images, and reporting, so that the hidden faces of a nation's uprising are not forgotten.
