Chief of Army Staff General Aziz Ahmed on Saturday said that this is the calmest and most peaceful election atmosphere he has witnessed in 47 years.
He made the comment while talking to reporters after a visit to the Azimpur community centre camp in Dhaka on Saturday, saying: “The rate of violence was very low in comparison to past national elections.”
Replying to a question about ensuring voter’s security, he said that over 50,000 soldiers have been deployed across the country and they are continuously patrolling. In all cantonments, enough soldiers are being kept on standby, and specific directives have been given so they can be deployed anywhere, anytime.
“We will be in sync with all other law enforcement agencies and shall do our best to provide necessary security for the voters,” he added.
Regarding safety of voters from minority communities, the army chief said that they can vote without any hesitation. Soldiers are going to those communities to ensure that they do not become subject to any sort of violence after the election.
“I have learned from past experiences that the party that loses the election tends to attack the minority communities. We will be very careful about that this time.
“At the end of the day, we want a participatory election,” he added.