Attacks on candidates, security officials on rise in poll-bound Bangladesh

Dhaka: As campaigning is underway for the Bangladesh elections, escalating violence, including threats and attacks targeting candidates and law enforcement personnel, triggered renewed concerns over the safety and security of the electoral process across the country, local media reported on Wednesday. From the outset of the election campaign, incidents involving shootings, stabbings, vandalism and clashes in multiple constituencies have reportedly resulted in numerous injuries and fatalities.

Additionally, in several constituencies, election-related infrastructure, including camps, microphones, offices, vehicles and even CCTV cameras installed at polling stations, have been vandalised or looted. Amid rising tensions, several candidates have lodged General Diaries (GDs) with police stations seeking protection, citing death threats and fears of conspiracy against them, Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune reported.

Reports suggest that political violence during electioneering has left as many as 24 people injured in clashes between political activists across five districts since Monday night, with most incidents involving workers of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami. On Tuesday, eggs were hurled at NCP leader Nasiruddin Patwari, a candidate of the 11-party electoral alliance in the Dhaka-8 constituency, during an event held at Habibullah Bahar College in Dhaka.

Both NCP leaders Patwari and Nahid Islam accused rival BNP leaders Mirza Abbas and Tarique Rahman of orchestrating the egg-throwing incident, an allegation BNP has denied. Earlier, on January 24, a GD was reportedly lodged at Shahbagh Police Station seeking protection for the son and brother of slain Islamist leader Sharif Osman Hadi, over concerns about a threat to their lives.

The same day, Mohammad Hasan Molla, general secretary of BNP’s Hazratpur Union unit in Keraniganj, died while undergoing treatment at Holy Family Hospital in Dhaka after being critically injured in a shooting by unknown assailants in the capital on January 22. NCP convener and Dhaka-11 candidate Nahid Islam on Wednesday alleged intolerant behaviour by a political group, saying that while verbal exchanges are expected during elections, attacks occur when some fail to accept differing views. “If this continues, the election will not be free and fair.

We urge them to abandon such practices; otherwise, there will be retaliation,” The Dhaka Tribune quoted Nahid as saying while campaigning in the capital. The NCP leader further claimed that their office came under gunfire and that his election campaign was being hindered both directly and indirectly. Bangladesh has been witnessing escalating political violence 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.