'Form high-powered body to protect rights of indigenous people'

Civil society members yesterday called on the government to form a high-powered commission to recommend policies and action plans for the welfare of indigenous people.
The successive governments have rarely paid attention to the well-being of indigenous community, journalist Syed Abul Maksud said, adding that it is time to correct mistakes of the past.
The government should form a high-powered commission, which would recommend ways and means to establish the rights of the indigenous people and that the government should act as per its suggestions, he said at a press conference jointly organised by Astha Network and Nagorik Sanghati at the National Press Club in the city.
The commission should be headed by a sitting or retired justice of the Supreme Court, he added.
Gonesh Majhi, president of Astha Network, a platform for indigenous people in Rajshahi, placed their 40-point demand, including ensuring their traditional rights to land, a halt to the construction of eco-parks, introducing education in their mother language and establishing a separate ministry for them.
Dr Shafiqul Alam, general secretary of Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, Rajshahi, spoke of the maltreatment of indigenous people living in plain lands.
"Still today, access to some restaurants in Rajshahi for the indigenous people is restricted," he said.
Dr Abdul Matin, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), said indigenous people are still living in a inhuman condition, although several non-government organisations have been working for their welfare.
"We should identify and address the problems facing the indigenous people," he added.
Bapa would organise an international conference of indigenous people in the capital in December, he said.
President of Nagorik Sanghati Dr ASM Atikur Rahman, General Secretary of Nagorik Sanghati Sharifuzzaman Pintu, Prof Khondkar Mukaddem Hossain, human rights activist Prashanta Saha and Anil Marandi were present at the press conference.