Politicians and leaders of ethnic communities living on the plains Wednesday demanded formation of a separate land commission to save them from land grabbers and from being evicted from their own land.
The ethnic leaders pointed out that besides being evicted by “influential” locals, they were often evicted even by government organisations, such as the Forest Department, and because of different projects like the Eco Park and reserve forest.
They made their observations at a press briefing organised by the Jatiya Adivashi Parisahd at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity auditorium.
Parishad President Rabindranath Soren said according to a survey of their organisation, 2,435 ethnic families had lost around 1,550hectares of land so far, of which 485.3hectares were grabbed through forged documents while the Forest Department grabbed around 480hectares.
The survey was conducted in Dinajpur, Naogaon, Bogra, Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Natore, Panchagarh, Rangpur, Joypurhat and Thakurgaon districts, he said.
Referring to the election manifesto of the ruling Awami League, Soren alleged that the government had not fulfilled any of the electoral pledges they had made to secure lives and livelihood of indigenous people.
Section 18 of the manifesto said terrorism, discriminatory treatment and human rights violations against ethnic people must come to an end permanently. Special measures will be taken to secure their original ownership on land, water bodies, and their age-old rights on forest areas.
Pointing out the contribution of the ethnic communities in the country’s Liberation War, Gono Oikya Committee Convener Pankaj Bhattacharya said no governments had either recognised their contribution or taken effective steps to secure their lives and livelihood.
Jatiya Adivashi Parisahd Organising Secretary Sabin Chandra Munda and Information Secretary Manik Soren, Anisur Rahman Mallick of Workers Party of Bangladesh, Chanchana Chakma of the Hill Women’s Federation, among others, also spoke at the briefing.
