Urging citizens to exercise their franchises without fear on Election Day, army chief General Aziz Ahmed said that the atmosphere ahead of the 11th national election was better than ever.
“We haven’t seen such a calm and peaceful] atmosphere in 47 years,” he told the media after visiting the makeshift army camp at Azimpur Community Centre on Saturday (Dec 29),a day Bangladesh goes to polls.
As many as 50,000 troops have been deployed across the country in aid to civil administration for security, said General Aziz before adding, “More troops will be deployed if necessary.
He said the army was reaching out to minorities and assuring them that they can cast their vote without any fear.
“We’ve seen from previous experiences that those who lose the election attack minorities. We’ll be very careful about it,” said the four-star general.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “We want a good election.”