Sahara bins possibility of militant attacks
Home Minister Sahara Khatun yesterday dismissed outright the possibility of any attacks by militants in Narayanganj.
“Inshaallah, there are no militants in Bangladesh and the election will be held in a free manner,” Shahara said.
Shamim Osman, the ruling Awami League-backed mayoral candidate for Narayanganj City Corporation polls, on Thursday said he was “99 percent” confirmed that militants would launch attacks during the polls.
Sahara brushed aside the claim while talking to reporters after inaugurating a Palliative Care Centre at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
“During last three years, we uprooted militancy and will no more allow them to emerge again,” she claimed.
Asked on discontent among election officials and Narayanganj residents over not deploying the army, she claimed the polls would be held peacefully.
This is the first statement from the government's side in the wake of rising public fear of violence as the government ignored the Election Commission's (EC) requirement of troops to maintain law and order in the election areas.
Meanwhile, Commander M Sohail, director of Legal and Media wing of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), yesterday said around 1,400 Rab members, apart from police and other intelligence, were deployed in Narayanganj to ensure security.
He too dismissed any possibility of attacks by militants. “There is nothing to be worried about as everything is under our control.”
The EC sent a letter to the Armed Forces Division on October 16, asking it to deploy four companies of army men from the morning of October 28 till November 1 in Narayanganj city.
But the government did not deploy the army, an act which ATM Shamsul Huda, chief election commissioner, terms as a violation of the constitution.
Huda said the government was constitutionally obliged to meet the EC's requirement. The commission would not take the responsibility for any disturbances during the vote, he added.
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