Children are being lured into political programmes and violent activities, which is contrary to the spirit of the constitution and UN Charter for Children, they said at a meeting organised by Chittagong city unit of Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR).

The rights activists called for an end to such practices. Otherwise, they warned, the names of the persons and organisations involving children in such activities would be made public and steps would be taken to bring them to justice.

They also demanded an end to the arrest and torture of innocent children who are being used in political programmes.

The children are being punished but the persons responsible for involving them in violent activities remain untouched, they said.

They called on probation officers, human rights organisations, journalists, lawyers, justices and members of the civil society to come forward to stop such practices.

The rights activists also criticised some organisations involved in monitoring polls for their unacceptable behaviour during the observation process and for not submitting any reports on their findings to the Election Commission.

At the meeting, The BSEHR decided that each unit of the organisation would form a cell for proper observation of the upcoming polls and prepare two reports on the pre- and post-election situation.

Chittagong city BSEHR President Advocate Zia Habib Ahsan presided over the meeting held at the court building office of the organisation. Adv Md Sharif Uddin, Adv Syed Anwar Hossain, Mohammad Yusuf, Adv Anwar Ali, Hasmat Ara, Safina Amin, Md Nasir Uddin, Adv AHM Jasim Uddin, Syed Junayedus Salam and Syed Md Harun attended the meeting.