46th BCS written test postponed, says Advisor Asif

Amid the ongoing hunger strike for an eight-point charter of demand over Public Service Commission (PSC) reform, Youth Advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain has announced the postponement of the 46th Bangladesh Civil Service written exam slated for May 8.

He arrived at Dhaka University's Raju Memorial Sculpture to end the hunger strike around 9:45pm on Sunday and announced the development.

The protesters ended their demonstration and called off the blockade.

“A high-level committee led by Fouzul Kabir Khan has been formed to look into the students’ eight-point list of demands. The committee will sit with the protesting students to discuss long-term reforms of the PSC,” Asif said.

“The government plans to form a second PSC and carry out some other reforms. We believe the recruitment process will be completed in the utmost transparent and neutral manner in future.

Three students from Dhaka University (DU) and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) resolved to “fast unto death” on Thursday afternoon until three demands, including PSC reforms, are met.

They are Shah Alam Sneha, a student of the 2014-15 session of DU’s Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, Abdul Karim, a student of the Department of Physics’s 2018-19 session, and Md Sirajus Salehin, a student of BUET’s Department of Industrial and Production Engineering.

Later, Mohammad Shakir, a student of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Rajshahi University (RU), joined the demonstration.

A few hours after the hunger strike began, the students issued a media statement announcing an eight-point charter of demands, replacing just the three.

Later, many more job seekers joined the program in solidarity with them.

They held protest marches at Dhaka University and Shahbagh several times to press for their demands. They also blockaded Shahbagh on Sunday.