American lawmaker and member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Tulsi Gabbard calls for an end to violence against religious minorities and secular activists in Bangladesh.

BNP urges Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed to announce cancellation of phase 1 and 2 of Union Parishad elections over irregularities and violence across the country.

Political violence remains inseparable from Bangladeshi politics and election violence is an integral part of that violence.

Turnout in the first phase of Union Parishad elections was about 74 percent, says Election Commission Secretary Sirazul Islam.

With union parishad elections getting closer, supporters of rival candidates are being engaged in clashes in several districts.