In Tetulia Upazila of Panchagarh District, Bangladesh, none of the 38 candidates who participated in the village police (Mahalladar) recruitment examination were able to pass because they failed to correctly write the national anthem.The recruitment test was held on Wednesday (February 25) at 10:00 AM in the Upazila Parishad hallroom.According to sources, a total of 38 candidates had applied for five Mahalladar positions under Tirnaihat, Tetulia, Shalbahan, and Debnagar Union Parishads. At the beginning of the examination, the candidates’ physical fitness was assessed. Later, as part of the merit evaluation, all candidates were given 15 minutes to write the national anthem, “Amar Sonar Bangla,” written by Rabindranath Tagore. However, none of the candidates were able to write the complete and correct version of the anthem within the allotted time. As a result, no one was declared successful.This is reportedly the first time that no candidate has passed a recruitment exam of this kind, and the incident has sparked criticism in the area. However, members of the local conscious community said that individuals responsible for important duties like village police must possess minimum educational qualifications and general knowledge. On the other hand, the authorities have been praised for conducting the recruitment process strictly based on merit. It has also been reported that the recruitment process will be conducted again in the future since no candidates qualified.Members of the recruitment selection committee present at the examination included Assistant Commissioner (Land) S.M. Akash, Officer-in-Charge Rashedul Islam of Tetulia Model Police Station, Upazila Engineer Idris Ali Khan of the Local Government Engineering Department, officials from the Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party, and chairmen of the concerned Union Parishads. In this regard, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and recruitment committee chairman Afroz Shaheen Khasru expressed surprise, saying that after verifying physical qualifications, the committee decided to assess the candidates’ merit and found, quite unfortunately, that none of them could correctly write the national anthem. He added that basic general knowledge and patriotism are essential requirements for government employment, and the candidates’ lack of knowledge about such a fundamental national matter had shocked the officials present.