Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir has strongly condemned what it called the entirely unjust, unreasonable and deliberate exclusion of talented and qualified candidates from the final appointment gazette of the 49th BCS (special) examination without any specific reason, depriving them of their right to a job and pushing the administration towards shameless politicisation.
Chhatra Shibir central president Nurul Islam and secretary general Sibgatullah made the protest in a joint statement on Thursday (October 1).
“Every lawful citizen’s right to a government job according to merit and qualifications is recognised by Bangladesh’s constitution. But we see that the current administration has deliberately dropped qualified candidates from the gazette without regard for any rules. Even candidates who came first on the merit list have been cut,” the statement said. “There are also allegations on social media that, alongside candidates with family or political links to Jamaat or the NCP, qualified candidates with no political affiliation are being dropped. If true, this is an ominous sign for the country.”
“Holding dissenting political views or a preferred political ideology is a citizen’s right. Denying a citizen a government job for these reasons essentially opens the way to fascist rule. Except for the banned Chhatra League, an ally of the fascist Awami League responsible for the July killings, and its accomplices, it is in no way acceptable to drop ordinary students or qualified candidates who supported July but hold different political views from the gazette,” the leaders said.
“The main aim of the historic July uprising of students and the people was to end discrimination and establish the rightful claims of merit. Before that blood has even dried, the BNP is pushing the country towards another new fascist system by shamelessly politicising government offices and institutions. With recommendations to raise viva marks by up to 400 percent and depriving talented students of their rights in the name of verification, every state institution, including educational institutions, the judiciary, field administration and the Secretariat, is being politicised in the BNP’s favour on an unprecedented scale,” they said.
“Taking away students’ right to jobs on the one hand, while keeping open unlimited scope for politicisation through an opaque verification process on the other, amounts to toying with the dreams of the country’s talented young people. The verification system must be restructured so that specific reasons are given for excluding any candidate after verification, there is an opportunity for self-defence and appeal, and government recruitment is based on merit, qualifications and transparency,” the leaders said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report