Jatiya Oikyafront chief Kamal Hossain on Monday said no one will be able to deprive people of their ownership of the country if they get organised and cast their votes. “We all will cast our votes as per the Constitution. Let’s conduct an all-out election campaign at every house and every locality. Seeking votes is not an offence,” he said. Speaking at a discussion programme, Dr Kamal further said, “We must enjoy our ownership of the country, but we don’t have any quarrel with anyone. If we can get organised no one can deprive us of it (ownership of the country.” Bangladesh Human Rights Monitoring Council arranged the programme at the Jatiya Press Club, marking the International Human Rights Day. Dr Kamal warned that the country’s independence will be hampered if people cannot cast their votes. “We must restore people’s ownership of the country to bring back democracy.” He urged the government to ensure the best use of the last 20 days of its tenure so that people can appreciate it after the election. “Your tenure has almost come to an end. Only 20 days are left. So, use the time properly. We’ll help you if you want to do that. For Allah’s sake do something good so that we can thank you on December 31,” he said. Dr Kamal also reminded the government that people did not accept the ‘lopsided’ election held in 2014. Referring to media reports on the growing incidents of extra judicial killing, he demanded the government form a strong probe body to investigate the incidents. “Extra judicial killing has turned epidemic …there’s no guarantee of normal death in the country for lack of democracy. People can’t die without any trial. Extra judicial killing must be stopped,” the jurist observed.
