Today, the nation gets to exercise its right to franchise.
However, to say that we reached this day without hindrance would be untrue as this year’s election was also preceded by the, sadly expected, levels of violence and unreasonable behaviour on the part of our political parties -- facets which have all but come to define Bangladesh’s political landscape for decades.
While elections in our nation have almost always been surrounded by controversy, whether it be about matters of participation or otherwise, one thing is absolutely certain: Voters’ right to take part in the elections, however they wish to, is inalienable. Whether or not a citizen decides to vote for a party, not vote for a party, or not take part in voting at all, they are all acceptable decisions and no one can take that away from them.
In other words: Violence and intimidation, whether to keep people from voting, to get them to vote a certain way, or even to vote at all will never be acceptable. The public has every right to conduct itself accordingly in matters of voting without fear or pressure.
From ruling party politicians threatening to take away allowances from beneficiaries of social security programs to the opposition’s continuous violent agitation which puts the safety of the public under threat, all of these infringe upon citizens’ rights to decide their votes by themselves.
Democracy has long been one of the cornerstones of Bangladesh -- a nation which fought for its sovereignty through a bloody war for liberation half a century ago -- and it will continue to define Bangladesh long after the dust has settled, and our government and political parties need to uphold that right no matter what.
