BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday alleged that people’s right to elect their representatives by casting votes has been stanched through a ‘lopsided and voter-less’ general election on January 5, 2014.

In a message, she urged people to get united and work together to ensure their basic rights and protect the country’s independence, sovereignty and democracy.

The message was issued on the occasion of the historic Mass Upsurge Day, commemorating a strong movement of students and people from all walks of life against the then Pakistani autocratic regime of Ayub Khan, on January 24, 1969.

Khaleda paid homage to the valiant sons of the soil who sacrificed their lives during the movement in 1969 and other democratic movements and prayed for salvation of their departed souls.

“January 24 is an unforgettable day in our national history. On this day, in 1969, students and people put up a strong resistance against the misrule of the then Pakistani occupation force,” she observed.

The BNP chief said the Mass Upsurge Day encourages the nation to be vocal against injustice, unjust and repression. “Now again one-party despotic rule has been established in the country by obliterating democracy and freedom of expression.”

UNB/RI