Land grabbers seek to drive Koras out of country
Sultana Kamal says after visiting affected village of the community
Eminent rights activist Sultana Kamal yesterday said a section of influential people want to drive the Kora community out of the country, from their homes in Haljha village of Dinajpur’s Biral upazila, in order to encroach on their land.
She made the remark at a press conference held at Dinajpur Press Club, following her visit to Haljha village.
Sultana Kamal, convener of National Advocacy Platform, led a team of rights activists from Dhaka to the village, where only a few remaining Kora families in the country still reside.
Before holding the press conference in Dinajpur, the members of the visiting team along with Sultana Kamal spent several hours with members of the Kora families.
While speaking at the press conference, Sultana said now there are only 22 Kora families living on 15 acres of land in the area where at least 300 of them used to live on around 52 acres of land.
The decline in the number of Kora population in the country is due to illegal occupation of their land by influential locals, she said, adding that during their visit to the village, they noticed that a brick wall has been built there in a bid to occupy more land belonging to the Koras.
The members of the Kora community are living in fear since March 6, when a number of them were hurt, while many of their houses were damaged in an attack, allegedly by the influential locals.