Road march, rally demand punishment to culprits

Indigenous people at a rally held at Adda of Gomostapur upazila yesterday demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of those who beat up and raped an indigenous woman leader in the upazila on August 4. 

Lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badshah of Rajshahi and leaders of different political parties and indigenous leaders spoke at the rally.

After the rally, they started their road march which ended in the afternoon in front of Deputy Commissioner office in Chapainawabganj town.

 At another rally there, the speakers said that president of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, Chapainawabganj unit, was beaten up and raped by a gang of land grabbers at Zinarpur village of Gomostapur upazila on August 4. Since then she is undergoing treatment at Chapainawabganj Sadar Hospital. But police were yet to arrest all the accused.

 They demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of those who beat up and raped their leader.

The leaders also demanded a separate land commission for plain land indigenous people.

Rabindra Nath Soren, president of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad central committee, presided over the rally.

Usaton Talukdar MP from Rangamati, Pankaj Bahattachariya, NAP leader, Kzai Sufia Akhtar, central leader of Jatiya Mohila Parishad, Sabin Chandra Munda, Adivasi Parishad general secretary, Bimol Chandra Rajoar, its organising secretary, Sushen Kumar, general secretary of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, Rajshahi district unit, indigenous leaders Bina Munda, Bishut Muni Toppo, Bashanti Murmu and Bazlur Rashid Firoz, central leader of Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal spoke at the rally.

Later, the indigenous leaders submitted a memorandum to the prime minister through the deputy commissioner of Chapainawabganj, demanding immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of August 4 culprits and a separate land commission for plain land indigenous people.

Several hundred indigenous people, including women, participated in the road march.

The indigenous leader, who was raped and tortured, was also a member of Parbatipur Union Parishad in the upazila. She came under attack while she along with labourers was planting aman seedling on a farmland at noon.

As the labourers fled the scene in the face of attack, three of the gang -- Rezaul Karim, Akbar Ali and Akbar Hossain -- took her to one side of a field and committed the crime.

The attackers also took away her power tiller, two bullocks and a shallow pump machine.

Police have so far arrested three of the gang.