These days, Bangladesh is dealing with severe political violence. The country’s officials said on December 20, 2013 that they will deploy thousands of troops starting from next week in order to deal with deadly political violence just before the controversial general elections, which are scheduled to be held on January 5, 2013.
Some of the major troubled spots in the country have already been covered by heavily armed troops, however, the Election Commission said that the ‘official deployment’ will begin on December 26, 2013. While speaking to reporters, Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, the chief election commissioner said, “The army troops will be deployed between December 26 and January 9 across the country”.
Even though the commissioner did not clarify how many troops will be deployed, the local media have predicted the number to be at 50,000. The recent move has been made by the country’s officials due to mounting tension with the opposition in the country. Even under these circumstances, the government is insisting that the voting will go ahead as planned.
The main opposition, which is the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies have been organizing protests since late October 2013 in order to force the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down so that the election can be supervised by neutral caretaker government. However, the PM has refused to accept the arrangement.
Photo Credits: Live Mint
