Ethnic minorities pushed into uncertainty: Santu Larma

Adivasi Forum president, Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, also known as Santu Larma, said on Saturday that population transfer to minority dominated areas, grabbing of land of ethnic minorities and absence of rights to self determination and their constitutional recognition as ‘indigenous people’ continued to force ethnic minorities to an uncertain future.
At a press conference of the forum at a hotel in Dhaka, he said that ethnic minorities had become the minority population in minority-majority areas due to population transfer and the ethnic minorities were losing the right on their lands.
The forum organised the press conference to announce programmes to mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples to be observed on August 9.
‘Right to self-determi nation is our human right acknowledged by the international community,’ said Santu, also the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti president.
‘Position of indigenous people in both plain land and hill areas is not good at all…Land grabbing, killing, abduction, rape and violence against women aiming at displacing the indigenous people from their traditional land are on the rise,’ he said.
‘Keeping the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord in uncertainty, the government is carrying out anti-accord activities that go against the interest of jumma people,’ said Santu, , who inked the accord with the government on December 2, 1997.
Government should make the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission functional to end land related problem of ethnic minorities in hill areas and form a separate land commission for plain-land minorities for the same reason, he added.
Santu alleged that people who had been opposing the implementation of CHT accord were now opposing cabinet approval to the draft Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission (Amendment) Bill.
Five organisations linked to Bengalis in the hill districts called daylong general strike at three hill districts for August 10 opposing the bill.
Santu, forum general secretary Sanjeeb Drong, Oikya NAP president Pankaj Bhattyacharya, columnist Syed Abdul Maksud and Dhaka University history professor Mesbah Kamal demanded official observance of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
Life of 30 lakh ethnic minorities is in jeopardy, their human rights is being violated frustrating them and government should make clear cut explanation as to how much the CHT accord has been implemented, said Maksud.
‘Eviction of indigenous people had turned into fashion…Thgeir lands are being grabbed in the name of development,’ said Pankaj.
Adivasi Forum will hold a rally and cultural function at Central Saheed Minar on August 9 to mark the international indigenous day.
Besides, many other organisations would organise discussion, seminar, rally and cultural function in August 7-10 in Dhaka, said speakers at the press conference.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net