Bangladesh’s Protests Have Been Decades in the Making

In early July, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Bangladesh after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s proposed 30% reservation, or quotas, in the public sector jobs for descendants of muktijoddhas (freedom fighters), or veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence. Previously, the government had reserved a certain number of jobs for minority and oppressed groups, including disabled people, women, and people from underdeveloped districts. The largest number of seats, 30%, however,...