Govt acting racial

A letter of the LGRD ministry "restricting" the celebration of World's Indigenous People's Day here on August 9 has generated strong reactions among Adivasi leaders.
They branded the letter as "racial" and a "fanatic act of the government".
Signed by Deputy Secretary of the ministry Dr Md Sarowar Bari, the letter was dispatched to all deputy commissioners (DCs) across the country on March 11. It was later forwarded to Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs) and all Union Parishads (UPs).
The letter instructs the administrative units to "monitor intensively that no support from the government side is granted to any programme of the indigenous people's day".
“The month of August is a mourning month, so unnecessary ceremonies of delight should not be organised during this month”, quotes a statement posted on the website of Kapaeeng Foundation, a rights body for indigenous people.
Shakti Pada Tripura, organising secretary of Bangladesh Indigenous People's Forum, said in the statement, "It is nothing but a racial act of the government".
"Every citizen has the right to liberty, freedom of assembly and association. So, the letter issued by MoLGRD [Ministry of LGRD] is a direct violation of the constitution".
He went on, "The Awami League-led grand alliance government is acting more fanatical than the communal and fundamentalist groups".
Chairperson of Kapaeeng Foundation and President of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, Rabindranath Soren, demanded the immediate withdrawal of the letter.
Sondha Malo, executive director, Women Commission for Development in Bangladesh, brought the letter to the attention of the audience at a roundtable at the National Institute of Local Government in the capital yesterday.
Addressing the programme as chief guest, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairman Prof Mizanur Rahman said, “The government of a people's republic like Bangladesh can ill afford to show such audacity towards indigenous people”.
The discussion was preceded by the unveiling of a study on indigenous people.
The report shows some 88 percent indigenous people think that development efforts in areas populated by Adivasis will be accelerated if formal governance coexists and coordinates with customary institutions of the indigenous communities.
It also found 46.7 percent of the participants not agreeing on the success of existing coordination between formal governance and the customary system.
The study is styled “Coherence between customary practices of selected marginal ethnicities and formal governance system in Chittagong Hill Tracts and North-West of Bangladesh”. A total of 120 participants were surveyed during the research period.
Responses also show 75 percent Adivasis think customary institutions actively conduct local judicial activities such as Bichar, Salish (arbitration) etc, while 64 percent support these institutions for resolving social conflicts, particularly at Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
The study was conducted by Research and Development Collective (RDC) in association with National Institute of Local Government (NILG) and Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO).