Dhaka, July 18 -- The week starting Sunday, July 14 was arguably the most consequential of the July Uprising of 2024. Under the then-little known banner of Students Against Discrimination, the likes of Hasnat, Sarjis, Asif and Nahid had started observing a series of programmes from July 1 itself, against a move to revive the quota provision in government jobs, whereby some 56% of these posts were being reserved under various quotas, squeezing out merit-based applicants who were often left wallowing in frustration - armed with degrees but left unemployed or at best, underemployed.

Students of public universities and colleges along with jobseekers had been staging demonstrations against the quota system in government jobs since July 1. The...