Noted rights activist Sultana Kamal yesterday at a webinar said indigenous people are not only losing their homesteads, gardens, trees, forestlands and lakes, but their crematoriums are also being grabbed by the state or people patronised by the state.
“And there is no solution to this grabbing from the state’s side, while those who are losing land are being evicted and forced to migrate elsewhere,” she said.
The webinar titled “Inclusion of Indigenous Peoples in Sustainable Development and Realization of Rights: Responsibility of State and Citizens”, was jointly organised by Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) and Bangladesh Indigenous People Forum, in collaboration with The Daily Star.
The webinar was organised to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (August 9), with the theme “Leaving No One Behind: Indigenous peoples and the call for a new social contract”.
Barrister Raja Devasish Roy — Chakma circle chief, Chattogram Hill Tracts — presented the keynote in the webinar. He said although Bangladesh has ratified International Labour Organization Convention 107 in 1972, and signed the historical Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord (CHT Accord) in 1997, the scenario of deprivation and distress of indigenous people is largely seen even today.
They have been facing various political, social, and economic challenges, he said.
“Bangladesh’s eighth five-year plan mentioned the development of the marginalised population, including the hill tracts population. The provisions of this plan need to be reinterpreted and implemented in line with the provisions of SDGs,” he said.
BIPF General Secretary Sanjeeb Drong highlighted the importance of inclusive development for indigenous people, saying that inclusive development does not always mean increasing per capita income or financial development. It also means ensuring their safety and security, recognising their self-identity along with constitutional and legal identity, the guarantee of traditional land rights, and the establishment of their educational and cultural rights.
“We are saying that the country’s per capita income has increased to USD 2,227, but this doesn’t register with indigenous people. Why do they lose their land or migrate to India? And why do indigenous women not get justice? Answers to these questions are equally linked with inclusive development,” he said.
Advocate Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad, joined the webinar as a panellist. He talked about the constitutional rights of indigenous people.
He said just like indigenous people, religious minorities are also lagging behind and facing an identity crisis.
Shamsul Huda, executive director of ALRD, said numerous sections have been implemented since the signing of the historic CHT Accord two decades ago. However, the major issue — the land commission that was formed — has not been implemented yet.
The commission lacks adequate workforce and budget. Those must be ensured for it to perform its duties, he said.
Nijera Kori Coordinator Khushi Kabir said numerous indigenous people fought for independence in 1971, and there was no discrimination back then. “Then why don’t we respect them now?”
MP Fazle Hossain Badsha, convener of parliamentary caucus on indigenous peoples and minority issues; Justice (retd) Mohammed Nizamul Huq, former justice of Supreme Court’s Appellate Division and chief legal advisor of BLAST; Prof Sadeka Halim, dean of Dhaka University’s (DU) Faculty of Social Sciences; Prof Rubaet Ferdous of DU’s Department of Mass Communication and Journalism; indigenous rights activist Meinthin Promila, among other, spoke at the event.
