Holding national polls on Victory Day month is a farce, says Bangladesh Oppn leader

Dhaka, Dec 16: Bangladesh on Sunday, December 16, observed the 47th anniversary of the victory of the allied forces over the occupant Pakistani Army on its soil in 1971. However, with a couple of weeks to go before the country's controversy-ridden general elections, the Opposition has accused the ruling Awami League of making the election scheduled in the 'Victory Day' month of December a farce.

Secretary-General of Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said this while greeting party workers at an event to commemorate 'Victory Day' at the Jatiyo Smriti Soudho (National Monument) in Savar on Sunday.

"The election has been announced in the month of Victory Day. The government is carrying out atrocities against the Opposition to make this election a farce," Alamgir was quoted as saying by Bangladesh media reports.

The BNP leader said neither there is any ambience suitable for an election in Bangladesh and nor the election commission has been able to prevent government atrocities over Opposition forces.

The national election is scheduled on December 30. The BNP has their top leader Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister, behind the bars and it has made the Opposition say that the government was aiming to winning the election easily.

Connecting the 'Victory Day' with the upcoming election, Alamgir said Pakistan had once deprived Bangladesh of its democratic rights and the liberation war had fought for it. "Today also, our fight is to free our democracy and leader Begum Khaleda Zia," he said.