From Karimganj in Kishoreganj to Dhaka University law: Mohammad Hanif Mia places fourth in 18th BJS exam

Mohammad Hanif Mia has placed fourth in the merit list for the civil judge post in the 18th Bangladesh Judicial Service (BJS) examination. He is a student of the Department of Law at the University of Dhaka.

Hanif was born in Karimganj upazila of Kishoreganj district. He completed his SSC from Karimganj Government Pilot Model High School in the science stream with a GPA of 5.

He then earned another GPA of 5 in the HSC examination in the humanities stream from Gurudayal Government College. He completed his LLB at Dhaka University with a CGPA of 3.62 and is now studying for an LLM at the same university.

He said his dream of sitting the BJS took shape after he was admitted to the law department. He had first planned to sit the 19th BJS, but his session's final undergraduate examinations ended comparatively early and the circular for the 18th BJS was published, so he decided to sit the 18th examination.

The 18th BJS was his first BJS examination. At the start of his preparation, he sought advice from senior and newly appointed judges.

He said Mahraj Hasan Tamim and Tanvir Hasan from his department helped him in his preparation. Mahi Uddin gave him access to recorded BJS-related classes, while Nishat and Talha gave him guidance whenever he needed it.

Describing his study method, Hanif said he studied by targeting subjects and the syllabus. On some days he studied for as long as 16 hours, on others he stopped after five to seven hours; his main goal was to finish the syllabus.

His advice on the preliminary test is to study according to the syllabus, master the bare act of each law thoroughly, and build confidence by identifying one's own weaknesses and strengths.

On the written examination, he said it cannot be covered by preparation in a fixed short period alone; it depends on general knowledge from the secondary and higher secondary levels and on LLB studies. Because the examination runs for 10 consecutive days, staying physically fit is also important, he said.

He described the viva mainly as a matter of mental preparation. His advice to newcomers is to focus on academic studies while keeping the BJS syllabus in mind, because academic results have an influence on the preliminary, written and viva stages as well.