Bangladesh Adivashi Forum Report

Dhaka, May 16, 2009 (Daily Star): Bangladesh Adivashi Forum (BAF) working with indigenous people claimed that around 50,000 Adivashi people were forced to leave the country due to harassment and repression during the last decade.

The Adivashi Manobadhikar Report 2008 claimed that non-adivashi people were relocated to the hilly region under a political scheme of "population transfer" and they contributed to the harassment and repression of the indigenous people. The report said, "The army is trying to rehabilitate 10,000 non-adivashi people to Kasalong Reserve Forest in Mijoram border area."

Bangladesh Adivashi Forum published the report at a press conference yesterday at the Young Women's Christian Association auditorium. "The adivashi people have become the minorities in the hilly areas," said journalist Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul at the conference.

Besides, many of them migrated to other places in the country losing their land since the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Land Commission could not begin its activities. "Bangalee people have their roots in adivashi people," said Prof Mejbah Kamal of Dhaka University.

Bangladesh Adivashi Forum also made a seven-point demand. They are:
1. Constitutional recognition of the indigenous people;
2. Ensuring adivashi people's right to their land;
3. Full implementation of the CHT peace accord;
4. Ensuring adivashi representation in every development project;
5. Increase the quota for adivashi people in educational institutions and during employment;
6. Exemplary punishment for human rights violators; and
7. Formulation of development plan for ultra-poor adivashi people.
The Bangladesh Adivashi Forum claims adivashi population in the country to be 30 lakh in 45 ethnic communities while the government estimate is only 18 lakh, the report read.

Shaktipada Tripura delivered the welcome speech at the conference while adivashi leader Sanjib Drong presented the keynote paper. Sayed Abul Maksud, Bibhash Chakraborty, and Mangal Kumar Chakma spoke at the programme.

The report also claimed that the indigenous people have experienced a silent famine and the region experienced a huge food shortage last year due to rat infestation.