Senior journalist Masuda Bhatti has criticised massive irregularities ahead of the parliamentary election and referendum under the Jamaat-controlled interim government led by Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
In her latest podcast on Thursday, she reported pre-poll rigging (e.g., pre-signed blank result sheets and ballot stuffing at night), highlighting tensions between security forces (police vs. Ansar), violence, and money distribution by BNP and Jamaat supporters.
โThere is no point in going to the center on the day of voting. Voting has been done at night. You may go and see that your vote has been cast at night. Why risk getting beaten up or losing your life? The game of money is going on at nightโwhat share have you got? The game of weapons will continue all day today. So, stay home with your life,โ she said.
In Jhenaidah, 23 blank result sheets with the signatures of polling agents were recovered from a centre the night before the election. The agents were forced to sign. Moreover, voting began in the darkness of night at Jubilee School and College in Ward No. 43 of the Dhaka-6 constituency.
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A video of sealing the ballot with the help of election officials at Siddhirganj Dhankunda Popular High School in Narayanganj has gone viral. Ballot papers are scattered on the floor of the polling booth. The counting of votes in the Gazipur-2 constituency has already ended.
She added that the election arrangements have been meticulously completed. The 2018 election was called a “night “vote”โfilling the ballot boxes before the light of day. There was no evidence of ballot stuffing, only allegations. โBut this time everything is happening live, before our eyes.โ
In 2018, the election was held with the participation of all parties. The defeated parties said until the evening that the vote was fair. Leaders like Dr. Kamal Hossain and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged rigging late at night. But the day’s vote was held at nightโthis was later confirmed. No one could provide evidence.
โOnly a BBC Bangla journalist claimed to have seen ballot boxes being taken from a polling station in Chittagong at night. That’s all! The BBC journalist was rewarded by the interim government by appointing him as the press minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in London. Quite a good reward,โ Masuda Bhatti added.
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Meanwhile, unprecedented tension was seen between the police and the Ansar forces. Allegations are made that Islami Chhatra Shibir members were appointed as Ansar members. Jamaat workers entered several centres at night with the help of Ansar members in the capital, with the police remaining onlookers.
In Hatirjheel, 330 people were hired as Ansar members using fake certificates and money. Later, they were removed.
The reports of rigging and cash seizures forced the DMP’s detectives to hold an emergency meeting to bring the situation under control.
Jamaat-BNP (once the brothers of the mother’s womb) are now fighting and bickering.
Masuda Bhatti said that clashes, bombings, and arson attacks were reported all over the country, including Moulvibazar, Nilphamari, Patuakhali, Feni, Chittagong, and Faridpur. More than 12 centres have been set on fire. Cadres are walking around openly with weapons.
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