The grassroots leaders of the ruling Awami League said that they are worried over the UP polls violence as they are losing their near and dear ones in each phase of UP elections being held under the party banners for the first time in the history of local government elections. UP elections are being held in six phases from March 22. The third phase of the on-going local body elections are scheduled for April 23 and the fourth for May 3. The first and second phases of UP elections on March 22 and March 31 saw irregularities and violence, which claimed 50 lives and injured thousands, including three election officials, according to media reports. Besides, there were street-fights between the supporters of AL candidates and rebel candidates almost every day, both before and after the UP polls.
On Friday, supporters of AL candidates, who were hoping to be nominated, went on a rampage and vandalised the local AL office in Chittagong ahead of the upcoming third phase. The same day, at least five ruling AL activists sustained bullet injuries and over 20 received injuries when supporters of the newly-elected AL Chairman clashed with supporters of the rebel party candidate over the just-concluded Madaripur Sadar UP polls. Talking to The Independent, Madaripur District AL President Sahabuddin Ahmed Mollah yesterday said that the incidents of pre- and post-polls violence has increased since the elections are held under party banners. “We are worried about the violence, but at the same time, we hope that such incidents will subside with the passage of time,” he said and added that the members of law enforcing agencies should play a stronger role during the voting. Sylhet City unit AL President Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran said, “Yes, we are worried over the increasing incidents of violence in the on-going UP polls. We will discuss the issue in the party’s upcoming Central Council Session.”
Gazipur AL General Secretary, Advocate Ajmat Ullah Khan, told The Independent yesterday that untoward incidents taking place in the UP elections is very unfortunate. “Our party leaders and workers are being murdered in each phase of elections due to intra-party feud. Our central leaders should be cautious,” he added. However, some of them (grassroots leaders) stated that the government should not introduce the system of holding the local government elections, especially UP polls, under political banners, because, they felt, this is the reason behind the escalation of violence compared to previous elections. Meanwhile, the central leaders of AL claimed that the on-going UP polls are being held in a free, fair and credible manner. They said that incidents of violence were negligible.
Talking to this Correspondent, AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif attributed the incidents of violence that occurred in the first and second phases of the UP polls to ‘social conflict’, which is unexpected. “In a developing country like Bangladesh, social feud is a common phenomenon, and this is the root cause of violence and killings in the on-going UP polls,” he said. Talking about the UP polls-related violence at a press conference, the party’s General Secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, said his party will reveal an evaluation report on the issue after the conclusion of the local body polls. “We will not disclose any report on the UP polls right now as the local body elections are still on. If we do so now, there could be an impact on the polls. But we will reveal an evaluation report on the issue after its conclusion,” he said. When asked for a statement over the issue, AL Presidium Member Nuh-ul-Alam Lenin said that the responsibility of holding fair and peaceful polls lies entirely with the EC, as they are a constitutionally independent body and the members of the law enforcing agencies remain under the control of the EC on the voting day. “But the Commission has failed in containing violence. We are worried about the violence and we have already asked the EC to take proper actions against the violence and irregularities that took place during the March 22 voting day,” he said. Meanwhile, almost all political parties, except the ruling Awami League and the stakeholders of local body elections, are worried about the on-going Union Parishad elections where violence has become a predominating factor affecting all sides.