DHAKA: The main opposition party is boycotting a national election, so troops were sent across Bangladesh on Wednesday ( Jan 3 ) amid concerns about violence.
To assist the civil administration in maintaining peace and security, men traveled in armored cars to temporary camps set up across the capital city of Dhaka.
After Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina refused to comply with their demands that she resign and hand over control of the election to a neutral authority, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ) has decided to abstain from voting on Sunday.
Hasina has frequently accused the BNP of starting anti-government demonstrations that have erupted in Dhaka since late October and have resulted in at least 10 fatalities.
According to the government in a statement, the army will simply take action upon demand from polling officers.
The air power will offer helicopter support to polling places in isolated mountainous areas, it added, and the navy was deployed in two southern districts.
People worry that after the election, the crime that has engulfed Bangladesh over the past two decades may return.
I do n’t give a damn which party is in charge. Abdul Hamid, 48, a chariot lifter in Dhaka, said,” I just want some serenity therefore that I can make and serve my home.”
” I do n’t believe there will be peace following the election.” It is challenging for us to succeed in times of political unrest. This is not how a nation should be run. Our future is but uncertain to us.
Since taking office in 2009, Hasina has maintained strict power. She has been charged with authoritarianism, violating human rights, restricting free speech, and stifling dissent while imprisoning her detractors.
Khaleda Zia, her main adversary and two-time top, is essentially under house arrest for what her party refers to as fabricated corruption charges. Tarique Rahman, her son and the standing chairman of the BNP, has been accused of a number of crimes but has refuted all of them.
European nations are pressuring Hasina’s government to hang free and impartial elections.