47th BCS candidates announce boycott of written exam

After continuous protests demanding a revised schedule and extended time for the 47th BCS written examination, candidates have finally announced a boycott.

At a press conference in front of Dhaka University’s Madhu’s Canteen on Wednesday afternoon, November 26, they alleged that their legitimate demands were ignored, citing inadequate preparation time, discrimination between new and previous candidates, and repression of protesting students.

The candidates said that because the new schedule has not been changed, many are not in a realistic position to sit the exam. They said they were “forced” to boycott as their calls to postpone the exam “on humanitarian grounds” received no attention.

Speaking on behalf of the 47th BCS Written Examinees banner, Saif Murad said many people still do not understand the real situation despite their long protest. He rejected claims that the movement caused public inconvenience. He said many students would boycott, and if attendance was unusually low, they might later demand a re-examination.

Murad said that for the past 30 days they had approached the PSC and relevant authorities repeatedly but faced attacks several times. “We did not take to the streets for the first 30 days. People did not even know we were protesting. But when pushed against the wall, we had to announce programmes to draw the government’s attention. Some public inconvenience was caused, for that, we apologise,” he said.

He added that a culture has developed in the country where many unreasonable demands are accepted through muscle power. “But our only demand was time, so new candidates could prepare, and so they would not face inequality compared to previous candidates.”

Regarding the exam routine, he said previous candidates had taken another written exam just three months ago, so they might be prepared. But for new candidates, taking adequate preparation had become impossible. He described this as a “discriminatory situation”.

Murad also claimed that 40–50 students were injured during the protests, some requiring more than ten stitches to the head. He said no representative from the PSC or government had enquired about them.

“We did not chant political slogans. We only demanded fair competition. But the PSC chairman insisted on imposing his roadmap on us,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Public Service Commission has remained firm on its earlier decision. It announced that the 47th BCS written examination will begin tomorrow, November 27, as scheduled.

The exam will be held in eight centres; Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Khulna, Barishal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Mymensingh. However, some subject-specific exams will be held only in Dhaka.