Politicians, academics and professionals on Monday at a discussion in Dhaka city called on the interim government to make public the list of land grabbers in the Chattogram Hill Tracts and the amounts of land grabbed.
Parbatya Chattogram Chukti Bastabayan Andolan (the movement for implementing the CHT accord) organised an exchange-of-views programme at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on land grabbing in the CHT with Dhaka University teacher Khairul Islam Chowdhury in chair.
Acting president of Gonoforum Subrata Chowdhury said at the programme that in that past during the rule of different governments land was continuously grabbed by Bengali settlers.
He called on the interim government to make the list of the land grabbers public as well as the amount of the land they grabbed.
Joint coordinator of Chukti Bastabayan Andolan Zakir Hossain read out the keynote paper at the programme in which he said that land was a vital issue in the CHT as many land grabbers were active there, depriving the national minority communities.
Revolutionary Workers Party general secretary Saiful Huq criticised the interim government saying that in the past one year it did not take any step to resolve the crisis of the national minorities in the hills.
Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince called on the national minorities to continue their movement to realise their demands.
Oikya NAP general secretary Asadullah Taeque said that political parties should extend their support to the movement of the national minorities.
Socialist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz demanded complete implementation of the CHT Treaty.
Bangladesh Jasod general secretary Nazmul Haque Prodhan demanded reactivation of the CHT land commission to solve the land disputes there.
Non-governmental organisation Association for Land Reform and Development executive director Shamsul Huda and Andolan leader Dipayon Khisa, among others, also spoke at the programme.
