The recent student protests in Bangladesh were triggered by a controversial quota system that required 30 percent of government jobs to be reserved for family members of those who led the fight for the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971. The quota system had been scrapped by the government in 2018, but was recently reinstated by the nation’s High Court. By the time the Bangladeshi Supreme Court stepped in late last month to overturn the High Court’s decision and undo much of the quotas, hundreds of student protesters had been killed.

Sheikh Hasina, the country’s prime minister until she resigned and fled the country last week, is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh and leader of the freedom movement during the struggle for independence. He was assassinated in office in 1975. Ms. Hasina first ruled as prime minister from 1996 to 2001, and regained power in 2009. For much of the period since then, she ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist, including jailing some of her political opponents.

Due to Sheikh Hasina’s family background, most of the reserved jobs under the quota system naturally went to members of her ruling Awami League party. In the past several years, university graduates in Bangladesh have struggled to find work. And the country’s youth unemployment has been quite high generally, leading to widespread frustration. That disenchantment is what fueled the street demonstrations.

Initially, the protests were brutally suppressed by the police, who fired live rounds into the crowds and killed scores of demonstrators. That angered the students even more, bringing larger numbers of people onto the streets. With the death toll rising to over 400, the top brass of the country’s military realized that they needed to act quickly. The head of the army convened a meeting with his generals, at which they decided that soldiers would not fire on civilians to enforce the government-imposed curfew. That message was then communicated to Ms. Hasina. Recognizing that she no longer had the support of the military, she resigned and fled the country.

Moral courage is in rather short supply everywhere nowadays. That is why this wise decision by the rank and file of the Bangladeshi military must be loudly applauded. There are too many places around the globe today where all sorts of enablers allow brutal autocrats to suppress and massacre their own people at will. What makes the conduct of the senior military officers even more remarkable is that they were fully aware of the impunity with which armies elsewhere operate these days due to the current global leadership vacuum. They could easily have killed and maimed their compatriots without much consequence, but they chose not to. Exemplary leadership is sometimes found in the unlikeliest of places. By their resolute action, these fine men and women of the armed forces of Bangladesh, a poor, relatively insignificant player on the world stage, have demonstrated that decency of character still exists in some places.

The brave students and young people of Bangladesh should be celebrated as well. It was the force of their numbers that made it untenable for the country’s military to confront them in the streets. Their courage, and the successful outcome of their protests, will inspire others who are fighting for fairness and freedom in their own nations.