Voters in fear of violence

With only one day left, voters in many constituencies are still undecided about exercising their franchise in tomorrow's tenth parliamentary polls in fear of possible violence.
A significant number of unhappy electorates, on the other side, have found it meaningless to go to polls centres as 153 candidates have been elected unopposed. Many others however said they would exercise their voting rights.
As electioneering ended at 8:00am yesterday, people in many constituencies missed the usual festivity and polls-time atmosphere as the battle of ballots is going to be limited within the ruling Awami League and some of its allies.
This scenario and voters' opinions were derived during visits to a number of constituencies in the capital and some other districts yesterday. Talking to The Daily Star, many grassroots level AL leaders have also given a similar picture about people's lack of interest in casting votes.

Already gripped in panic from the ongoing indefinite blockades, people fear violence may scale up further as the opposition alliance has announced 48-hour fresh hartal across the country from today in a bid to resist the election.
The Election Commission, however, said it had already directed the law-enforcement agencies to ensure foolproof security so that voters could cast their votes without fear.
"Why should I take a risk on my life by going to the polling centre in an election which is meaningless to me?" said Md Sumon, a grocer in Senpara of Dhaka-16.
Amzad Ali, a rickshaw-van driver of Dhaka-7 constituency, however said, "I will observe the situation in the morning [of voting day] and if I find everything normal, I will go to the voting centre along with my family."
Nazmul Hasan, an honours student at Tejgaon College and a voter of Dhaka-15, has lost his interest in the polls as he thinks his vote will make no difference in overall results.
"The Awami League-led alliance has already obtained 153 seats, which is enough to form the government. Why will I cast my vote when I know my vote will not make any impact [on overall result]?" said Nazmul, who claimed himself as a non-partisan voter.
Asked about the election, Eklas Ali, a tea-stall owner at Somsadipur of Poba upazila in Rajshahi, reacted sharply, "You call it an election?"
He said his daily income shot up to around Tk 1,400 during national election days against his normal income of Tk 400 a day.
"My income has not increased this time. It has rather decreased as people are afraid to come out now," he added.
All five customers sitting at the tea-stall said they never thought anything about the election as they were not eager to.
"Look around. There are no loudspeakers, no posters, no festive mood that are usually seen during elections," said Zillur Rahman, one of them.
Anwar Ali, a farmer of Pirganj in Rangpur, said the government could not implement its election manifesto in last five years. “So, I have decided to cast my vote for Sheikh Hasina to give her more time to implement her election manifesto and complete the trial of war criminals."
Hasmot Ali of Kalmati in Lalmonirhat said, “I have never witnessed such polls in my life. I still do not know the candidates' names and their symbols."
Sazeda Begum, a villager of Karnapur in Lalmonirhat, said, "We, the village women, are in panic over countrywide political unrest [centring election].”
Our correspondents from Sylhet and Chittagong have sent almost similar pictures on reaction of voters there.