Delwar Hossain
Election Commissioner Md Shahnewaz refused to be blamed for the killings taking place centering the Union Council polls. He made this clear during a discussion with the press at the Election Commission Secretariat.
He said, “Why should the Election Commission take responsibility for any killings that occur because of the elections? Local elections is a competition between candidates that know each other beforehand, there are parties to be considered, ego to be considered here. People die in our neighboring countries during times of elections as well. It is not as if this is a new incident even in our country.”
He blamed over-enthusiasm for the killings of the 24 people who died due to clashed during the UC polls, “This is an election under party symbols so it was expected that everyone will follow the guidelines. However, the over-enthusiasm of some people has caused criminal activities and we have taken strict action for that. We will become even stricter in the future. The Commission cannot prevent it if someone creates chaos in their own locality. It is the law enforcement agencies’ responsibility. We have asked law enforcers to take severe action against any rule breakers.”
Translated by: Sumaiya Kabir