Speakers, including national minority community leaders, rights activists and academics on Tuesday demanded constitutional recognition of plain land national minority community people as ‘indigenous’ people.
They also demanded that the minority community people’s right to land and territory be ensured.
They said that plain land national minority community people faced discrimination in different sectors, including education, health and ancestral land rights as well as state development plans as they were not recognised as ‘indigenous’ people.
The speakers made the remarks and raised the demands at a discussion organised by Bangladesh Adivasi Forum held in the capital’s Mohammadpur.
Addressing the discussion, the forum’s general secretary Sanjeeb Drong said that it was unfortunate that issues of the national minority people were not on the government’s list of priorities.
He demanded the government take steps to ensure the constitutional recognition of the national minority people as ‘indigenous’ people.
The forum’s education, culture and sports secretary Uzzal Azim read the keynote essay at the discussion.
He said that ethnicity, rights and dignity of the national minority community people became questionable and they were deprived of international legitimacy as they were not recognised as ‘indigenous’ people.
Referring to the present situation of plain land national minority community people, Uzzal said that grabbing ancestral lands of the national minority community people, land document forgery and eviction from their ancestral lands had become usual.
Joining the discussion virtually, Shohel Chandra Hajong, a member of the forum, said that the national laws were not aligned with international standards and ‘free, prior, and informed consent’ recognised in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was ignored in the country.
There is also a lack of political will to ensure collective rights affecting national minority community people’s rights to land, territories and resources, Shohel added.
Association for Land Reform and Development programme manager Bulbul Ahmed emphasised the need for the country’s ratification of the ILO Convention 169 to ensure the rights of the national minority community people.
Dhaka University professor Sikder Monoare Murshed, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum vice-president Ajay A Mree, Jatiya Adivasi Parishad vice-president Philemon Baske and others also spoke at the programme.
