At two polling centres inside Dhaka Cantonment, which is part of Dhaka-17 parliamentary constituency from where BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman contested elections to the 13th parliament on February 12, a large section of the Bangladesh Army rank and file voted for the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Election Commission records accessed by Northeast News reveal an alarming picture that has medium- and long-term implications for the Army, which, for some years now, has been witnessing a gradual ideological shift towards the extreme right.
At the Muslim Modern Academy polling centre, of the 4,121 votes cast (46.55 percent) on February 12, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Dr. S M Khaliduzzaman received as many as 2,003 votes. The total number of voters for this area stands at 8,856.
On the other hand, Tarique Rahman received 1,942 votes at the Muslim Modern Academy polling centre.
The results for the polling centre at the Shahid Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College were even more dismal for the BNP. Here, Tarique Rahman received only 681 votes, while Dr Khaliduzzaman bagged 1,261, which is just 101 votes short of the double the votes cast in favour of the BNP chairperson.
Dhaka Cantonment covers the following five polling centres:
• Adamjee Cantonment Public School and College: A major polling center in the area, often used by high-ranking officials and residents.
• Muslim Modern Academy (Old Kachukhet): Located in the Dhaka Cantonment area.
• Baridhara Scholars’ International School and College: Located at DOHS, Dhaka Cantonment.
• Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College/School: Located on Shaheed Sharani, Dhaka Cantonment.
• BAF Shaheen College: Located at the Cantonment Gate.
Northeast News could not access the records of the votes cast at the other three polling centres.
However, defence sources said that an estimated 70 percent to 80 percent of the soldiery – not officers – stationed across different cantonments and armed forces locations in Bangladesh, and using postal ballots, are said to have exercised their choice for the Jamaat-e-Islami.
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The picture that emerges from the two polling centres in Dhaka Cantonment and the postal ballots is alarming, Bangladesh defence sources said, adding that this could have implications for the Army, which, until a few years ago, was relatively free from the influence of any extreme right-wing ideology.
