Voting for the general election in Bangladesh began on Sunday as the country’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina eyes a fourth straight term and the fifth overall for her Awami League-led alliance.
The elections come against a backdrop of pre-election violence and fear for more as the country’s main opposition – the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – and other like-minded parties have announced a boycott of the polls. The BNP has called for a two-day nationwide strike from Saturday.
The Opposition is boycotting the poll and encouraging the public to refrain from voting due to its allegations regarding the credibility of the elections. It alleges the ruling Awami League has propped up “dummy” candidates as independents to try to make the election look credible, a claim the ruling party denies.
Tensions have spiked in Bangladesh since October when a massive anti-government rally demanding Hasina’s resignation and a caretaker government to oversee the election turned violent. Hasina’s administration said there was no constitutional provision to allow a caretaker government.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday thanked India for supporting during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan and giving “shelter” to her family in 1975 when many of her family members were killed in 1975.
The India-Pakistan war began place in the backdrop of tensions between Pakistan (also known then as West Pakistan) and the Bengali majority East Pakistan, which was closer to India then. On March 25, 1971, the Pakistan Army, led by Lieutenant General Tikka Khan, who later went on to become Pakistan’s first COAS, launched Operation Searchlight to quell the rebellion in East Pakistan. Massive human rights violations were reportedly perpetrated by the Pakistan Army during this operation.
While the Indian Air Force (IAF) responded with initial retaliatory strikes the same night, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a “full-scale” invasion of Pakistan. Thus, officially commenced the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971.
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