Leaders of 25 religious and ethnic minority organisations on Thursday called on the ruling Awami League to fulfil its election pledges made before the last general election held in December, 2018.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and 24 other Hindu and ethnic minority organisations put forward their demands at a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka.
Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council general secretary Rana Dashgupta said that the Awami League made some pledges in its election manifesto for the welfare of the minority communities, but most of the pledges remained unfulfilled.
The pledges included enactment of a new law to protect the interests of the minorities, another law to combat discrimination against the minorities, formation of a minority commission and the implementation of the Vested Properties Return Act 2001 immediately.
He also said that the government pledged that it would implement the Parbatya Chattogram Peace Agreement fully and form a separate land commission for the ethnic minority people.
‘This government has two more years before the next general election and we want that the Awami League government will fulfil its pledges by this time,’ Rana added.
Rana Dashgupta said that the minority organisations had started a signature campaign to mobilise support for their demand.
They will submit a petition to prime minister Sheikh Hasina with signatures of more than one lakh people in February 2022, he added.
The minority people will come to Dhaka on the day and will hold a march towards the prime minister’s office, Rana said.
The acting president of the unity council, Neem Chandra Bhowmik, minority leaders Milan Kanti Datta, Sanjeeb Drong, Utpal Das, Kazal Debnath and others spoke at the press conference.
