Minorities drowning in tide of development
Although Bangladesh has recently been upgraded from low income country to lower-middle income one, it does not have any reflection on the lives of indigenous people living in the remote parts of the country, said Santu Larma yesterday.
"The government says country is riding on the high tide of development. But the reality is indigenous people, marginalised farmers … and tens of thousands of poor people are drowning in that high tide of development,” said Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma alias Santu Larma, president of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum.
He made the remarks at a press conference organised by the Forum at a city hotel on the eve of International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, to be observed on August 9.
Larma, also chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Regional Council, said around 30 lakh indigenous people are deprived of their basic rights. Instead of getting the rights, they were heading towards an uncertain future.
“The communities are facing an existential crisis due to land grabbing, oppression and violence against them,” he said. Also, continuous incidents of land grabbing turned them into minorities in their areas where they were the majority once, he added.
He also said they did not see the government take any proper initiatives after the recent massive landslides in the CHT that killed 131 people, and after the food crisis in Sajek of Rangamati where “around 3,000 families are still starving”.
Speakers at the programme condemned the recent incidents of violence against the indigenous people in Gaibandha and Langadu. They said the incidents took place due to a negligence of the government as its different bodies and the ruling party leaders were involved in it.
They demanded that the government implement the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People as it has already given an assurance of the implementation.
They also urged the government to implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord completely, and not to take any development initiative near the communities' habitats that may harm their livelihood.
Reading out a statement at the event, Larma said the prime minister assured them of implementing the UN declaration in 2009. “But it is a matter of sorrow that her government termed the communities ethnic minorities, let alone implementing the declaration,” he said.
Noted columnist and writer Syed Abul Maksud urged the government and political parties to observe the indigenous day across the country.
“If the government can observe different types of days…why it could not observe the indigenous day?” he said. “No sponsors would be needed to observe the day if people come forward in this regard.”
Pankaj Bhattacharya, president of Oikya Nap, termed the recent incidents of violence against the minority communities a consequence of political crisis. He said the incidents occurred due to a lack of democracy in the country.
“I salute the journalists who stayed beside the minority communities and raised their voice against the violence amid pressure of section 57 of the ICT act,” he said.
Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, and Prof Mesbah Kamal of Dhaka University also spoke among others.
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