Woes of <i>adivasis</i> in Rajshai

REPORTEDLY, in the last two years 150 families of several adivasi communities in Rajshahi left their hearths and homes for India. It is undesirable that a section of the minority community should feel compelled to seek sanctuary across the border.

The plight of the adivasis community in the Rajshahi Division may be fairly representative of the condition of the indigenous communities elsewhere in the country.

Obviously land and landed property of this weak section of the society is the main cause of their being victimised. And in this sordid tale the local administration including the police, who are supposed to protect them, allegedly colluded with the politically powerful to deprive the adivasis of whatever little earthly possession they have. Even their burial ground has not been fully cleared of illegal occupiers.

We are in full accord with the seven point demand of the adivasis of Rajshai which, inter alia, calls for stopping all forms of injustices to them. And to start with the killers and oppressors of the indigenous men and women should be brought to book.

Safety is a precondition for people to not only act free but also to feel free. Obviously our adivasis neither feel safe nor free. And a society that seeks equality for all cannot countenance abridgement of freedom of a section of it. The government must act quickly to restore the confidence of the adivasis.