Rights organization, Ain o Salish Kendra, at a dialogue on Tuesday said that 437 people became victim of extra-judicial killings in the last 10 months.

Of them 276 people were killed in anti-narcotics drives and 26 made victims of enforced disappearance, it said.

ASK organised a civil society dialogue with National Human Rights Commission at the Daily Star Centre for the promotion and protection of the rights.

Rights activists expressed fear that human rights situation would be further deteriorated centring the 11th parliamentary election rescheduled for December 30.

ASK executive director Sheepa Hafiza said that every year after election, minority people, especially the Hindus in Bangladesh had been attacked by activists of local political leaders. 

‘Same situation still prevails and we fear that minority people are likely to be attacked again,’ she said.

Human rights defenders said that since the NHRC was formed in 2007 it failed to protect human rights as human rights violation continues to this day in the country.
They criticised the commission for not taking any step to stop extra-judicial killing and enforced disappearance which appeared as life-threatening for the people.

Human rights activist Sazzad Hossain said that human rights violation has increased in the country over the years as the law was not functioning properly.

NHRC chairman Kazi Reazul Haque said that the NHRC has already asked the superintendents of police and deputy commissioners across the country to take security measures especially for the minority people.

ASK urged the government for strengthening the NHRC so that the commission could really defend human rights of the people. 

It also asked the NHRC to take pragmatic actions to protect human rights of the people and to set up office at district level so that people could easily reach the commission.