Bangladesh is going to polls on Dec 30, 2018 to elect the members of parliament.
Polling centres occupied, agents being driven out, claims BNP
The BNP has alleged that polling centres have been occupied across the country, that its agents are being driven out and the party’s supporters and activists are facing violence.
Published : 30 Dec 2018, 06:35 AM
Updated : 30 Dec 2018, 07:36 AM
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said: “From the picture we have received, this is a violent election. We are seeing a one-sided election environment conducted at the whims of the government. This paints a clear picture that they want to ensure a favourable result through a one-sided contest.”
Agents are being blocked from polling centres in Dhaka, Noakhali, Meherpur, Cumilla, Brahmanbaria, Bhila, Chattogram, Feni, Pirojpur, Gazipur, Kushtia, Joypurhat, Chapainawabganj, Bogura, Faridpur, Tangail, Cox’s Bazar, Narayanganj, Pabna, Narsingdi, Barishal, Jamalpur, Barguna, Rizvi alleged.
He said the party’s agents are being forced out, the party’s candidates and supporters are being attacked. He also made allegations of various other irregularities.
Rizvi said the Dhaka-4 BNP candidate Salahuddin Ahmed, who was attacked by alleged ruling party activists on his way to the voting centre, is currently receiving treatment at Apollo Hospital.
“Awami activists continue to rampage through voting centres in different constituencies and now the police, RAB and BGB have also joined their efforts. Awami activists in some areas have been telling voters that they can’t go to the voting centres,” said Rizvi
“The chief election commissioner and heads of law-enforcement agencies said there will be a peaceful election. But this is the reality of the 2018 election,” he added.
“Abdul Aziz, the president of the party’s Shimuliya Union Ward No. 4 branch in Tangail, has been killed. Candidates have been injured. This is why we didn’t contest the Jan 5, 2014 election under Sheikh Hasina. We are now seeing a bloody election which can lead people to fear for their lives being played out.”
“Is this the spirit of the Liberation War? Sheikh Hasina’s democracy is a betrayal of the democratic movement of the 1980s and the Liberation War,” he said.
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