The Bangladesh Army has stressed that a credible and impartial national election will reestablish stability and regular public order, enabling military personnel to go back to their respective cantonments.
Between 90,000 and 100,000 army members will be stationed across the country, with facilities established at district, upazila, and constituency levels, stated Director of Military Operations Brigadier General Dewan Md Monzur Hossain while detailing the army’s arrangements for the forthcoming polls at a media briefing at the Staff Road mess in Dhaka Cantonment on Wednesday.
He also underscored the army’s security efforts, mentioning that 81% of missing firearms have been retrieved, and significant amounts of weapons and munitions have been confiscated at airports and train stations. The army’s explosive ordnance disposal team has neutralised more than one hundred improvised explosive devices (cocktails), he further stated.
He reaffirmed the army’s commitment to cooperating as required with the Election Commission to ensure a free and fair 13th National Parliamentary Election.
The senior army official also said, “Some vested interests are spreading false and malicious propaganda, but the army is now more united than ever and will carry out the responsibilities entrusted to it.”
Answering questions from reporters, Lt Gen Mainur Rahman said, “Similar to the citizens of this nation, the military also desires for the polls to be administered within the framework prepared by the government. Once the election takes place, public order will be normalised. Our goa;l is to ensure that the military can pull back from active duty and go back to the cantonments.”
He added that the army has been deployed in the field for the last 15 months, managing situations like flooding in Cumilla and Noakhali, transport obstructions, and other urgent incidents.
Lt Gen Mainur also cautioned that missions will continue to stop any shipments of arms from arriving in Dhaka, guaranteeing a safe setting for the elections.
Previously, at a conference on 1 November, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus instructed the heads of the three military branches to implement all needed steps to guarantee absolute security and a tranquil environment for the national election in February.
Besides the Army, over 2,500 navy personnel and 1,500 air force personnel will be on duty during the election period.
Earlier, on September 1, Chief of Army Staff General Waker met with the chief adviser at Jamuna.
In that discussion, Yunus had requested General Waker to guarantee a well-outlined chain of command and tight cooperation between all security agencies in the months ahead of the national election.
