Job seekers give 12-hour ultimatum, warn of nationwide blockades if 47th BCS exam not postponed
Protesters say university students in Dhaka will continue their sit-in at Shahbagh if their demands are not met
Job seekers demanding a postponement of the 47th BCS written examination have issued a 12-hour ultimatum, giving the authorities until 11am tomorrow (26 November) to respond.
If their demand is not met within this time, they have announced a nationwide blockade across all eight divisions.
The announcement was made on behalf of the protesters by Sharif Uddin, a BCS exam candidate, around 9:45pm today (25 November).
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Sharif said, "Due to the police attack, 10 to 15 of our brothers have been injured and several are hospitalised. We cannot sit for the exam without them. So, first of all, we are boycotting the written exam scheduled for 27 November."
He added, "Police have assured us that tomorrow they will either arrange a meeting with the PSC chairman or take us to Jamuna. That is why we have given time until 11am. If our demand are not met by then, we will enforce blockades across all divisions."
Sharif also said university students in Dhaka will continue their sit-in at Shahbagh.
After announcing the programme, the protesters cleared the Shahbagh area.
Earlier in the day, job seekers took position in Shahbagh from 1pm, demanding the postponement of the 47th BCS written exam.
Around 5pm, when they started a protest march from the Central Shaheed Minar toward the Jamuna clashes erupted with police.
Police used water cannons and sound grenades to disperse them but regrouped near the National Museum area in Shahbagh again around 6pm.
Protesters claimed that at least 25 people were injured. They then demanded the resignation of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) is Professor Mobasser Monem, protesting the police action.
However, speaking over the phone, Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge Khaled Mansur told TBS, "Protesters first threw bricks at police. I was also injured. They are still positioned on the road in front of Charukola."
The written examinations of the 47th BCS will begin on 27 November in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chattogram, Khulna, Barishal, Sylhet, Rangpur, and Mymensingh simultaneously. Exams for technical and professional cadres will continue until 18 December.
The preliminary exam of the 47th BCS was held on 19 September this year. A total of 3,74,747 candidates took part, of whom 10,644 passed. The results of the preliminary exam were published by the PSC on 28 September.
