Ahead of polls, BNP asks voters to shun 1971 Pakistani collaborators

Dhaka, Jan 27:  As campaigning for Bangladesh’s February 12 elections got underway, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) issued an indirect warning against Jamaat-e-Islami, urging voters not to “destroy the country” by casting their ballots for those it accused of collaborating with Pakistani occupation forces during the 1971 Liberation War, local media reported.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the remarks while addressing an election rally at the BD High School ground in Thakurgaon district’s Sadar upazila. He is contesting from the Thakurgaon-1 constituency in the upcoming elections.

“Those who assisted the Pakistan Army even at the last moment are today asking for votes to govern the country. Don’t ruin the nation by voting for them,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star quoted Fakhrul, as saying.

“We want to uphold the spirit of 1971 because our identity derives from that. Bangladesh was born due to Pakistan’s exploitation and repression. We fought Pakistan and achieved independence,” he added.

Addressing the Hindu community, Fakhrul acknowledged that fear often exists among Hindus across the country regarding persecution, assuring them not to be afraid.

Amid rising political tensions ahead of the February election, Jamaat and National Citizen Party (NCP) accused the opposition groups of widespread violations of the electoral code of conduct, The Daily Star reported.

Addressing reporters following a meeting between a Jamaat delegation and Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner at the Election Commission headquarters in Dhaka on Monday, Jamaat’s Assistant Secretary General Ehsanul Mahboob Zubair said, “Assaults have been deliberately carried out on our activists over the past few days. They [female Jamaat activists] are being harassed, humiliated, and in some places, asked to remove their veils. Many have had their mobile phones snatched.”

“In the past four days, we have observed with concern and anxiety that if these issues are not controlled, the situation may worsen further before the election,” he added.

Meanwhile, NCP leaders also claimed that opposition groups in several constituencies are violating electoral regulations with minimal administrative intervention. They claimed that their Dhaka-18 candidate’s campaign was attacked, warning that such incidents send a “negative signal” undermining the electoral process.

Accusing BNP’s Dhaka-8 candidate of using government vehicles, NCP leader Ayman Raha said, “When such things happen openly, and no action is taken, the public becomes fearful… we realise we are not getting a true level playing field.”

Bangladesh has been witnessing escalating political disputes ahead of the February 12 election.

The parties that earlier collaborated with the interim government's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, to overthrow the democratically elected government of the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, are now embroiled in an intense power struggle to win the upcoming election.

--IANS