Pre-electoral violence at Sreepur

WHAT was supposed to be a party-less character of upazila election has not only seen openly party backed candidates in the fray but also something beyond that crossing the line which cannot bode well for the next round of upazila elections. Violence has started gripping the pre-electoral scenario. Internecine rivalry between the ruling party blessed contestants is translating into fierce locking of horns. The case in point is Saturday's violent clashes centring around upazila election scheduled for March 15 at Sreepur under Gazipur district between two groups of AL supporters.
These resulted in 50 persons having been injured including nine getting bullet-hit, of whom, the condition of a BCL leader was stated to be critical.
The three-hour long mayhem took place in broad daylight and right in front of the police. The casualties included damaged vehicles, with a microbus and seven motorcycles set ablaze and panic spread around.
The showdown had a demonstrative effect on three levels: First, the voters were appalled at the breakdown of public order. Secondly, where ruling party backed candidates were concerned, the police remained mute spectators as the activists had a field day brandishing weapons and using them against each other. Last but not least, it conveyed a sense that the party wields little or no control over local leadership or their sponsored candidates. This, for a party of AL's organisational depth is quite ironical. The line must be enforced between competitiveness and rivalries coming to a boil and turning physical.