Troops Deployed Across Bangladesh

Members of the armed forces were deployed across Bangladesh on Wednesday (January 3) ahead of the January 7 general election, reports received from all the divisional headquarters and different districts said.

The troops were deployed to assist the local civil administration in holding the January 7 national election in a free, fair, and peaceful manner, and they would remain deployed until January 10.

Armed forces’ members were deployed ahead of the election which is boycotted by almost all the opposition political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, that are urging people not to go to polling centres and boycott the election.

The ruling party, its allies and the government are urging people to go to the polling centres to cast votes in the election, participated by the Ruling Awami League, its allies, a few newly registered political parties, and Jatiya Party, the opposition party in Parliament, with which the AL negotiated and gave 26 seats.

The ruling Awami League also allowed the party leaders to contest in the election and violent attacks including shooting, hurling crude bombs and torching of vehicles and campaign booths continued during electioneering of the Awami League and the party-backed independent candidates in different places across Bangladesh, leaving scores injured ahead of the general election.

The Inter-Services Public Relations directorate, in a statement on Tuesday, said that the Armed Forces Division started deploying troops ‘in aid to the civil power’ and would be assisting the civil administration in January 3–10 to hold a ‘free’, ‘fair’, ‘impartial’ and ‘peaceful’ election on January 7.

It said that army personnel are being deployed in 62 districts, while the navy would serve 19 upazilas in the rest two coastal districts of Bhola and Borguna.

The Bangladesh Air Force will provide choppers to ferry ballot boxes to inaccessible areas.