Indigenous people protector of forests
Karuna Rani Sarkar, a Union Parishad (UP) member of Shyamnagar upazila in Satkhira, at a view exchange meeting yesterday said the male chairman does not let them to carry out any development works.
"The chairman gives me only five VGF cards, out of 30, for distribution," she said, adding that the male chairman and members take advantage of her being minority.
Institute for Environment and Development (IED), an NGO, organised the meeting titled "Participation of indigenous people living in low land in local government system, forest act and the rights of the indigenous" at the National Press Club in the city.
Karuna, a Kshatriya of Hindu religion, said though the people of her community are frequently attacked by the land grabbers and the pirates from the Sundarbans while the local administration shows indifference to them.
"My two brothers were abducted by the pirates of the Sundarbans for Tk 50,000 on November 3. They tortured them brutally. I informed the matter to police, local administration and chairman but they did not do anything for me. The pirates freed my brothers on November 9 after I gave them the money," she said in an emotion-choked voice.
Rabindranath Saren, a leader of the indigenous people, said the land grabbers cut down the trees of the forests but the indigenous people are blamed for deforestation.
"Indigenous people can't live without forest. They plant trees and maintain forests but police caught them on charge of deforestation. It's really pathetic," he said.
Project Coordinator of IED Jyoti Chatterjee and researcher Pavel Partha presented two separate papers at the meeting.
Presenting PowerPoint slide on the way of life of the indigenous people and the usefulness of forests for their livelihood, Pavel Partha said there is a technical error in the existing forest act. "The act considered the management and preservation of forest as administrative work but the rights of people to forests is not ensured by the law," he said.
He urged the government to make it public before finalising the amendments to the forest act, 2010.
The government should take initiative to prevent forest grabbing and impose ban on setting up Eco-park, Eco-tourism, rest house and commercial tourism centres in the indigenous people's area, he said.
There are 1.5 million indigenous people of over 30 different communities living in the plain land throughout the country.
Journalist Ataus Samad said the government should leave the responsibility of reforestation to the aboriginal people of the country.
Land and forest grabbing are not the problems for only the indigenous people rather the people from all walks of life suffer due to land grabbing and deforestation, said eminent columnist ABM Musa.
"You should unite and raise voice against land and forest grabbing," Musa said.
Former Pro-Vice Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Rashid-e-Mahbub presided over the meeting. Prof Dalem Chandra Barman, acting editor of the Daily Sangbad Muniruzzaman and Associate Editor of Prothom Alo Mizanur Rahman Khan also spoke at the meeting.
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