I belong to the group of voters who cast their votes in this election and I also belong to the group of voters who are not certain that their votes got counted.
First of all, let me set the record straight --- this piece is not about report card on election or election monitoring. Rather, it highlights my personal observation about how the events unfolded on election day. Moreover, I am not privy to any ideological group. Nor am I disseminating the messages of any political creed.
As I expressed it many times, I am not a great fan of cadre-based parties. So I did not vote for any such party candidate. It matters little whether he represented an alliance or an individual cadre-based party. Obviously my preferred candidate could not make it. Like many worried voters, my only concern is whether my vote got counted.
On December 30, I took a morning stroll long before the voting had begun. Ten minutes prior to commencement of scheduled voting, I walked past 4 polling stations and had a glance at them. Of them , two fall into Dhaka-15 and the rest are on Dhaka-16.
I had not noticed any long queue before them.I got back home and had my breakfast. Watched international coverage on Bangladesh election. I took a shower and went for the polling station around 10:30 AM. I did not face any obstacle and headed straight to the booth whose number I scribbled down to a piece of paper.
Luckily I did not have to wait in a queue and I was the only person at the booth. After performing the rituals, I cast my vote. This very polling station was later featured on Aljazeera.
I got back home again. Suddenly the idea of watching how the poll was going on in surrounding neighborhoods came to my mind. I embarked on a personal observation trip around 12: 10 PM. Had I watched the BBC news clip on severe beating of a reporter in broad daylight, I would not have taken the trip.
Election commission banned vehicular movement in Dhaka Metropolitan Area during poll day. Empty streets of Dhaka turned into a paradise for wanderers. This time I noticed thin queue of voters around the polling stations that I had taken a look earlier.
I went to Mirpur-11. Noticed crowd flocked in front of a polling station. Then I went to Mirpur-12 bus station. Watched police vehicles and a magistrate's car parked outside a polling station. Hardly seen any voter there.
Then I took another long walk to Mirpur-1, passing Mirpur-2. The only vehicles I noticed either belonged to security forces or to ruling party. Some opposition supporters openly expressed their dismay over the election. Rickshaw pullers were charging high fares sensing their great demand.
I went to Mirpur graveyard for martyred intellectuals. An army column drove past me after paying a routine visit to a polling station of Dhaka-14.
Working class was not happy with the election atmosphere. The mood was writ large on the faces of day laborers and rickshaw wallahs taking lunch at a roadside eatery.
Dogs took charge of the streets. Unlike us, they are pretty disciplined.They patrolled the street like diligent security personnel and respected territories of others. A pack was taken aback by heated exchange of abusive words between a passenger and a rickshaw wallah. Dogs of the pack were appalled by the quarrel. They might be telling:"Gee, man eats man!"
I approached Mirpur 10 and saw the thin queue vanished in front of one of the polling stations. Police vehicles replaced them.
What puzzled me was the absence of Oikyafront candidates' posters. In Dhaka-15, chieftain of a notorious Islamist party was chosen as its candidate. Perhaps that might be the reason for this since more and more people dislike them after the Shahbagh movement, I thought. But I had not seen any poster of Oikyafront candidate in Dhaka-14 and Dhaka-16. Even I had not seen any Oikyafront election campaign office.
Main opposition alliance was in compete disarray. Was it due to coercion? Was it due to differences among them? Was it a submission to total defeat before even the battle began? Many people will look for answer to these questions in the coming weeks.
As soon as the dusk set in, roads got emptied.Crackers started to explode. For a brief moment, 3G and 4G speed was restored. Via free basic Facebook, I came to learn that transmission of a private TV station was taken off. I punched the number on remote, the screen was complete black.On the eve of election day, its journalists were targeted. The owner of this TV channel was an independent candidate. I thought that might be a reason for this blackout.
As expected, sweeping victory results flashed on the scroll. Strikingly, there was no jubilation outside. People longed for change were subdued by this overwhelming victory.
I was deeply disturbed as I no longer have access to my WordPress website. First, I thought election could be the reason for this. Internet services were stalled.
Despite the block, earlier I used WordPress to access the admin panel to publish post. I could not do that any longer. WordPress is blocked! What has gone wrong?
The news of who got elected in my constituency had not reached me till then. I was preoccupied with one thought. Did they really count my vote?
News broke out that a journalist was thrown into jail under the pretext of draconian digital security act for getting his election stat wrong.
What good does the triumph of a large cadre based party bring to society? I was wondering. Honor of journalists was reduced into rubble. Ordinary people like me are having troubles in expressing their thoughts in digital platforms. Is this the dawn we really sought?
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