Different ethnic minority rights organisations on Wednesday staged a demonstration in the capital with a seven-point demand including bringing an end to eviction of ethnic minority people from their land in the name of protecting reserve forest, eco-park or national project.
They demanded that ownership-recognition should be given to the minority people of Madhupur forest and fix their own land immediately through holding a tripartite survey among three parties — administration and forest department, National Human Rights Commission and ethnic minority community.
To press home the demand, around 22 organisations, led by Bangladesh Adibashi Forum, formed a human chain with slogan ‘stop eviction of ethnic minority people from ancestral land in Madhupur forest’ in front of the National Museum in the capital’s Shahbagh area.
Later, they marched towards Dhaka University’s TSC area and held a short rally.
Their seven-point demand included withdrawal of all forest cases against the ethnic minority people, setting up a separate land commission for the plain land
ethnic people as per government’s promise in 2008, setting up a minority commission immediately and ensuring human rights of the ethnic minorities through dialogue at the national level.
They also demanded not to run a project or activities that affect the lives of ethnic minority people without consulting with them.
While addressing the protest programme, prominent playwright columnist Mamunur Rashid said, ‘The inhabitants of Madhupur area have been living and taking care of the place for more than 700 years. Those who have been taking care of the place like mother are being evicted now. It’s a deep conspiracy against the ethnic minority people.’
Criticising forest department DU Professor Robaet Ferdous said that the forest department, who is the responsible to save the forest, did the maximum damages to the country’s forest that can be probed by statistics and research.
General secretary of BAF Sanjib Drong said, ‘The rights of the ethnic people to live and own lands must be recognised immediately. We seek the intervention of prime minister Sheikh Hasina to solve the problem.’
DU Linguistics Department Professor Sourav Sikder, acting president of Bangladesh Sammilita Samajik Andolan Professor Azizur Rahman, among others, addressed the protest rally.
