Annual Report 2016 NHRC proclaims that appropriate measures should be taken for ensuring peaceful border between India and Bangladesh. The incidents of human rights violation should be stopped immediately. NHRC urges the government to take up the matter with its counterpart to make necessary arrangement for compensating the victims or their families. Women Empowerment and Violence Against Women (VAW) Despite tremendous success in empowerment of women in all spheres of life violence against women still exists. Women are being victimized by oppression for dowry, sexual harassment, domestic violence etc. The incidents of suicide among women due to such atrocities are also rising. NHRC is appalled at the attack on women due to refusal of marriage proposal. NHRC expresses its concern over rape of girls including baby girls. Special mention may be made about rape & murder case of Tonu.7 Bangladeshi women are also vulnerable to trafficking. Among many other issues, wage discrimination between men & women is also prevailing. NHRC strongly demands justice for all victims of VAW and urges the state to bring all the culprits to justice immediately. Freedom of Speech The incidents of killing of bloggers occurred in 2016. Terrorists, more specifically, religious militant groups were allegedly responsible for killing three bloggers brutally last year. 9 Professor Dr. AFM Rezaul Karim Siddique, English Department, Rajshahi University was stabbed to death allegedly by radicalised groups. Nazimuddin Samad, a law student who posted pro-atheism comments on social media has been murdered by the terrorist groups. 8 The trend of getting religious feeling injured or hurt by some writings or face book page comments is seen in the country. The subject is controversial. Religious intolerance hinders freedom of thought which should be addressed properly by the state. NHRC considers that nobody should be attacked or killed on the pretext of being hurt by religious sentiment. Rights of life and living are to be kept intact at any cost. Union Parishad Election Violence In 2016, election in nearly 300 Union Parishads (UPs) was held in six phases. Amongst these UPs there were 22 UPs in recently defunct enclaves which deserve special mention as the people of these UPs for the first time availed chances to elect their UP chairperson according to their free will as citizens of Bangladesh; previously they were in the enclaves in some statelessness 7 Bdnews24.com, 16 May 2016, https://bdnews24. com/bangladesh/2016/05/16/cid-say-tonu-wasraped-before-murder 8 Aljazeera, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/ 04/bangladesh-activist-nazimuddin-samad-hackeddeath-160407060514126.html