In the past three years, Bangladesh has experienced a string of protests that collectively suggest that nothing of significance is possible without public protest or street agitation.
From the student protests over quota reform in 2024 to the protests in the workplace by tax officials in 2025, and from the unrest in the education sector to the controversy surrounding professional exams such as the enrollment in the Bangladesh Bar Council, the common thread has been that when institutions do not communicate or act transparently, the public has no choice but to go onto the streets.
The quota reform revolt, first spearheaded by students, sparked the most dramatic protest wave in recorded history. The government's reinstatement of the discriminatory quota system for public-sector positions was the impetus for the demonstration.
The initial student sit-ins and protest actions soon escalated across the country's major campuses and cities, leading to nationwide unrest, which included blockades and road protests.
The protests escalated dramatically in July 2024, leading to the loss of life and injuries between the police and the protesting crowd, ultimately resulting in the resignation of Sheikh Hasina on August 5.
But the turmoil didn't end there. Protests against the HSC exam results broke out in October 2024, as students questioned the transparency of the results. As students marched to the education board's offices, forcing their way inside the buildings and calling for a reevaluation of the results, the protests took a violent turn.
This led to the resignation of the board chairman, proving once again the power of the streets in pushing through changes, even in the most technical matters such as examination results.
Apart from student marches and political protests, 2025 saw widespread discontent among government officials in general, and members of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) specifically.
In May and June, members of the NBR held pen-down protests and sit-ins against a government ordinance that sought to abolish the NBR and bifurcate tax collection into two separate entities for customs, VAT, and income tax.
This resulted in a virtual standstill of all activity related to customs, VAT, and income tax collection, with many protests subsiding after negotiations and an assurance from the Ministry of Finance that a revised version of the ordinance would be adopted, though intermittent pen-down protests persisted.
These protests have one thing in common: When citizens perceive government procedures as opaque, slow, and unresponsive, they resort to collective forms of protest to gain answers to their questions.
It is no different in the dispute over the 2025 Bangladesh Bar Council enrolment exam entrances. The Bar Council enrollment process has always included several things, such as the MCQ exam, the written exam, and the viva voce exam.
The written exam was held on June 28, 2025, and the results were announced on October 25, 2025, with 7,917 candidates clearing the exam from a much larger pool of applicants.
However, when a significant number of applicants called for re-evaluation, a not uncommon practice in response to apprehensions, the Bar Council scrapped the results of the re-evaluation and called for the re-evaluation of the answer scripts of the candidates.
Meanwhile, a significant section of candidates who cleared the written and viva voce tests remains in the dark about results, highlighting how procedural uncertainties can be a source of citizen discontent as much as any primary political concern.
Furthermore, these ad hoc committees have a one-year term and are established in accordance with Rule 8 of the Bangladesh Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Order of 1972.
Although the law calls for a duly elected committee to take over after this time, no action has been taken to hold elections as of yet. The Attorney General of Bangladesh served as the committee's chairman during this period and abruptly left without disclosing the results or completing the committee's tasks, ostensibly in preparation for the 2026 national elections.
While the protest against the large-scale political mobilization is about national politics, the protest against the Bar Council results is about professional licensure and advancement, and it has been just as passionate because these students feel they had no choice due to a lack of clarity.
In today’s Bangladesh, whether it is quota systems, exam results, government department restructuring, or professional certifications, the pattern is the same: The government does not take the initiative to forestall discontent through proper communication, and protests become the default mode through which people get their voices heard.
This is an indication of serious problems with governance and people’s trust in it.
When institutions are unable to meet people’s reasonable demands for accountability and explanations, protests feel like the only way to get answers and, in turn, turn these protests into a regular mode for resolving an increasingly long list of issues.
Apurba Mogumder is an Apprentice Lawyer, District & Session Judge Court, Dhaka.
