Insist leaders of the community
Leaders of the indigenous people have respelled their demand for constitutional recognition as “indigenous” or “adivasi” people instead of tribal or small ethnic groups as they fulfil all the United Nations criteria to that end.
Ahead of the International Day for Indigenous People, the leaders said it at a press conference at the National Press Club organised by the Bangladesh Forum for the Indigenous People.
The forum leaders said the position of Bangladesh at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) that there are no indigenous people in Bangladesh actually ruined the country’s image.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni said the constitution recognises all “ethnic minorities” and the government is pledge-bound to protect their distinct uniqueness either at hills or in plain land.
“We need to preserve and protect the uniqueness of the minorities because these distinct identities are part of beauty of the nation,” she said emerging from an inter-ministerial meeting held at her ministry yesterday.
Held at the foreign ministry, the two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting discussed how to face the debates that arise over the recent issue of indigenous and ethnic minorities.
Law Minister Shafique Ahmed, Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad, Primary and Mass Education Minister Afsarul Ameen, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister GM Quader and State Minister for CHT Affairs Dipankar Talukder attended the meeting also attended by the high officials of different ministries.
“Whatever we say in our country, the United Nations has its own criteria to identify indigenous people. They would not change it whatever we say or do here,” said Sanjeev Drong, secretary general of the forum, in his written statement at the press briefing.
The leaders have raised a 10-point demand including immediate implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord, protection of their rights to ancestral land, saving their “languages and cultures” and ensuring their economic, political, social and basic rights.
Referring to the current debate between the government and the indigenous people about their identity, they said the position of the government is not right as they fulfil all the UN criteria required to be recognised as “indigenous”.
Sanjeev Drong criticised the statement of the foreign minister as she said the tribal people living in CHT are “ethnic minorities”.
Sanjeev said her remark was not correct and acceptable, as the adivasi people are living in Bangladesh from time immemorial with their own distinctiveness, language, culture and identity.
He cited the ILO convention (169), article 1 that says, “Self-identification as indigenous or tribal shall be regarded as a fundamental criterion for determining the groups to which the provisions of this Convention apply”, which Bangladesh ratified.
They indigenous leaders demanded that the government amend the article of the constitution that says, “People of Bangladesh are Bangalee by nation,” saying while amending the constitution, the government ignored all their recommendations.
Pointing to the recent killings of three Marmas in Bandarban and one Santal in Dinajpur, the leaders said organised attacks on the indigenous people have increased to “eliminate” them from their ancestral land.
They also mentioned felling of over 5,000 trees at Nahar Khansi village in Srimangal and said Rakhains in Patuakhali, Garos in Madhupur, Santals in the north Bengal are facing land ownership problems.
The government did not address these issues in the last two and half years though the ruling party pledged in their election manifesto to do so.
The speakers said more than 70 countries are going to observe the International Day for Indigenous People day on August 9 with a focus on “Indigenous designs: celebrating stories and cultures, crafting our own future”.
They also requested the government to observe the Day at state level.
Shaktipada Tripura, organising secretary of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCCJSS), Garo community leader Ajay A Mri, Santal community leader Rabindra Nath Soren, among others, were present at the press conference.
-With The Daily Star input
