Article: Bangladesh election violence throws country deeper into turmoil
Author: Associated Press in Dhaka
Date Published: January 6, 2014
Hyperlink: Click here to read this article
Author: Associated Press in Dhaka
Date Published: January 6, 2014
Hyperlink: Click here to read this article
The article explains how Awami League, Bangladesh's leading political party, won an election. However, this election was marked by extreme violence and low voter turnout. On many occasions, police officers fired upon citizens in opposition to Awami League. Due to such violence during the election, many political parties in opposition to Awami League have petitioned the election. In addition, many people are starting to oppose the government of Bangladesh due to it not providing for its people.
I find that the Awami League government using violence to quench protests to itself to be alarming. If a government is willing to use violence to diminish support for political parties in opposition to itself, then the government will not be very likely to provide for all of its citizens. I believe that the boycott of the election to be justified since the government used unnecessary violence to win an election they were already on track to win.
This article is important to politics in Bangladesh because it displays that political diversity is not something maintained in Bangladesh. Since Awami League uses violence to put down people in opposition of itself, it means that people will be stuck with Awami League as the only legitimate political party, even if they do not support the party and its ideals. With one political party dominating the government of the county, many citizens of Bangladesh may not be protected or have their ideas represented in government.