Ethnic minorities now passing toughest time: Santu

Adivasi Forum president Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, known as Santu Larma, on Saturday said that ethnic minorities of the country were now going through the toughest time amid repeated attacks and land grabbing as they lacked constitutional recognition.
Santu claimed that ethnic peoples had become the minority population due to population transfer and they were losing their right to their lands.
He was addressing a press conference organised by the forum at a Dhaka city hotel to announce programmes to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples to be observed on August 9.
‘Compared to the past, indigenous peoples of the country are now passing the hardest time,’ said Santu, also president of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti. 
‘Arson attack on Santal community, communal attacks and setting fire to their houses at Langudu, grabbing of Khasia land, declaration of Madhupur forest as reserve forest, endless discrimination against Rakhines of the coastal belt and continued repression on indigenous peoples prove that they are not in good condition,’ said Santu.
‘The government claims mammoth development taking place but in reality indigenous people, marginalised, downtrodden, workers, tea labours are sinking in the development flood,’ he bemoaned.
Recent landslides in Chittagong hill tracts killed 131 people, around 20,000 families were affected but there was no effective response from the government, he complained.
About 15000 people starving in Sajek were in want of food but the government remained indifferent, he found. 
The government was claiming that the country was lifted to lower middle income notch but, he claimed, it had no reflection on the life of the ethnic minorities.
Government put the process of implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord into a deepfreeze and jumma people were still deprived of constitutional recognition as ‘indigenous’, said Santu who inked the accord with the government on December 2, 1997.
Institute for Environment and Development executive director Numan Ahmed Khan, columnist Syed Abul Maksud and Dhaka University history professor Mejbah Kamal agreed to the observations of Santu.
‘Currently all but Awami Bashi [followers of ruling Awami League] are in bad condition,’ said Maksud adding, ‘The government’s attitude toward implementation of CHT has given the citizen the impression that the accord will never be fully implemented.’
Majbah said that it was unfortunate that government was creating distance with ‘indigenous’ people.
Oikya Nap president Pankaj Bhattacharya and Adivasi Forum general secretary Sanjeeb Drong both said that ethnic minorities and marginalised people were passing their days in severe humiliation inflicted by the state.
Advasi Forum said that they would hold a rally at Central Shahid Minaar on August 9, hold several discussion and seminar in August 6-11 in the capital and other districts.
The forum would hold programmes to expedite their demands of customary rights to lands, recognition of right to self-determination, full implementation of the CHT Accord and separate land commission for ethnic monitories of both hill and plain lands.
They also demanded official observance of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in the country.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net