Shahriar Kabir finds recent city polls among fairest in history

War crimes researcher Shahriar Kabir yesterday said the March 28 city corporation polls, after the national election of 2008, were one of the most free and fair ones in the country's history.

The mass media highlighted the few incidents of violence that took place during the polls, the acting president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee told a discussion it organised in the capital's WVA auditorium in observance of the 86th birthday of its founding convener, Jahanara Imam.

The mass media often highlight negative stories to gain popularity, said chief guest Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, stressing, “That is why they showed some minor incidents repeatedly.”

The committee's Vice President Prof Muntassir Mamoon said the media covered city corporation elections as if those were national polls, not local government ones. Commenting on BNP's boycott, he said, “The BNP-backed aspirants could have won the election. But they were withdrawn right at the moment of their possibilities.” He also maintained that incidents of irregularities were fewer than that in any other polls.

Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid and Nari Progati Sangha Director Rokeya Kabir also spoke.