Khiyang community demands end to grabbing of lands

Representatives of Khiyang community in Bandarban have demanded a stop to encroachment upon their lands.
They were speaking at a conference titled "Land-water Management and Sustainability: An Indigenous Perspective in Laito Khiyang Community, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh" at Dhaka Reporters Unity, organised by the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) yesterday.
The lives and livelihoods of the people are under threat due to gradual decrease of their lands for cultivating foods and building homes, the speakers told the conference.
Land plays an important role in the culture and identity of the community as they produce almost all the things they consume by cultivating those lands, they said.
With the increase of tobacco and rubber cultivation, the fertility of the land is being decreased and traditional jum agriculture cycles are being disrupted, said Khiyang youth Nyojy U Khiang.
They said the government should keep in mind the traditional land use practices of Khiyang community when conducting any land management activities to save the community from extinction.
ALRD Chairperson Khushi Kabir also spoke on the occasion.