New Delhi: India and Bangladesh have something in common. Both currently have youth-led protests ongoing with the same demand—they want their education minister to resign.
While the protest in India is centred around the NEET-UG scandal, students across Bangladesh are taking to their streets over their government’s decision to continue school board examinations amid massive floods in the country.
They want their education minister, Dr ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon, to step down.
What began as a demonstration in front of Dhaka University soon spread to protests across cities like Savar, Barishal, Cumilla, Narayanganj, Jashore and Bogura, Daily Star reported. Along with concerns over holding exams amid floods and rain, the protesters also voiced concerns over alleged errors in multiple question papers and the unusually high difficulty level of the examinations.
Beyond the minister’s resignation, the protesters called for a public apology to teachers and students for what they called administrative failures.
Within hours, education minister Milon announced Tuesday that some of the ongoing HSC exams, held Monday, could be rescheduled.
Meanwhile, the education minister has also come under heaviy criticism after a leaked audio clip went viral, where he purportedly referred to the protesting HSC candidates as “farm-er murgi (farm chickens)”. In an eerily similar development, this has led to students—taking inspiration from India perhaps—launching a ‘Broiler Chicken Party’ page.
Reclaiming the Education Minister's "farm-er murgi" (farm chicken) remark, protesting students have launched a satirical platform called the 'Broiler Chicken Party#BroilerChickenParty #StudentProtest #Education #centristnation pic.twitter.com/SdGKNVQUXz
— Centrist Nation TV (@centristnattv) July 14, 2026
At least 51 people have died due to torrential rain across Bangladesh, as flash floods and landslides inundated vast areas of the country. According to government officials, more than a million people had been affected by the disaster as of Sunday, while thousands have taken refuge in government-run emergency shelters.
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Errors in education system
Carrying placards and chanting slogans including ‘No politics in education’ and ‘We want the education minister’s resignation’, protesting students in Dhaka said they had been forced to wade through knee- to waist-deep floodwater and mud, while others travelled by boat, according to local reports.
The demand is to end “experiments” with the examination system and postpone the remaining HSC examinations until conditions improve.
In Barishal, Cumilla and Narayanganj, protesting students blocked highways Tuesday and refused to move until a proper dialogue was held with state authorities.
In Dhaka, a police team led by an additional deputy commissioner of the Ramna Division asked the students to nominate a five-member delegation to hold discussions with the relevant authorities. The students however declined the proposal and continued their protest, later marching towards Dhaka University, where police halted their procession near VC Chattar, a landmark known for student protests, political rallies.
After they were driven away from Dhaka University campus, the protesters marched to the Dhaka Education Board where tensions flared as a few students allegedly hurled brick chips at the building, Daily Star reported.
According to Prothom Alo, students are currently staging a blockade outside the Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor’s residence, with police setting up barricades to stop them from moving further into the university campus. Meanwhile, other students have blocked the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway since Tuesday morning.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)