New Age
Nazrul Islam
Nazrul Islam
Ethnic minority communities living on the plains have continuously been thrown out of their ancestral lands, allegedly by government agencies, influential quarters and private organisations, revealed a survey.
It said the lands of poor ethnic minority people were being grabbed by a section of influential quarters using different techniques including use of forged documents and forcibly ousting them from their lands while the government was expropriating their lands for various development projects.
Land acquisition by the government for its so-called social forestation has made the highest number of ethnic minority families landless in the north-western areas, where a group of researchers conducted the survey on the state of land rights of indigenous people who have long been rallying for recognition of their constitutional rights.
The survey, conducted jointly by the Jatiya Adibashi Parishad, Incidin Bangladesh and Jahangirnagar University's Department of Anthropology, of the north-western ethnic minority communities since January this year, said the government hardly paid any heed to the causes and miseries of the communities.
The preliminary result of the study showed that a total of 1,983 ethnic minority families in 10 north-western districts lost control over 1,748.36 acres of land in the last few years. The forest department grabbed the largest area of 1,185.76 acres, followed by 356.7 acres by different influential quarters who evicted the rightful owners from their ancestral lands by forging documents. Lands used as common property, graveyards and shrines were also grabbed, said the study, and made the shocking revelation that every indigenous family lost more or less than one acre of land.
While launching the
findings of the survey at a workshop on the settlement of north-western indigenous people's land disputes on Saturday at the National Press Club, the secretary-general of the parishad, Rabindra Saren, asked the government to
form an effective land commission to settle the disputes and rehabilitate the indigenous people who were evicted from their lands.
Researchers and experts say that the fate of over 1.5 million indigenous people, who represent 58 small and large groups living in hilly and plain lands across the country, is almost same.
The majority of the indigenous people's household income basically depends on agricultural work.
But their food security and habitat are at stake, as a result of land-grabbing and loss of their traditional sources of livelihood, they said.
The study showed that influential quarters stole land from 285 indigenous families in Naogaon district. Almost a similar situation is seen in Natore, Bogra, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Thakurgaon and Panchagar districts. In Dinajpur district alone, the forest department occupies 1,182.07 acres of land after dispossessing 411 indigenous families.
One of the former chiefs of the caretaker government, Habibur Rahman, said that the activists must make a firm commitment to bring to an end to the disputes on land. There are similar disputes in many countries like Canada, America, Latin America and Australia.
He said that the indigenous people should not be satisfied by only realising their demand for the formation of a land commission. 'You must produce evidence before the commission so that it works in your favour.'
The experts and rights activists opined that the survey has revealed only a partial picture of the land disputes.
They said that they need more surveys to reveal the whole truth.
'This survey's findings are like the tip of the iceberg, the real situation is more disastrous,' said Moazzem Hossain, director of Gram Bikash Kendra, a non-governmental organisation working for realisation of the indigenous people's demands.
He said that the state has taken hardly any initiative to rehabilitate or compensate the dispossessed indigenous families despite the fact that the government took away their lands for different development projects.
Ushatan Talukdar, the chief of the political wing of the Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, asked the government to ensure justice to the ethic minority groups. He said that the minorities have always remained suppressed, and the government has always sided with the powerful quarters. 'This attitude should be changed.'
It said the lands of poor ethnic minority people were being grabbed by a section of influential quarters using different techniques including use of forged documents and forcibly ousting them from their lands while the government was expropriating their lands for various development projects.
Land acquisition by the government for its so-called social forestation has made the highest number of ethnic minority families landless in the north-western areas, where a group of researchers conducted the survey on the state of land rights of indigenous people who have long been rallying for recognition of their constitutional rights.
The survey, conducted jointly by the Jatiya Adibashi Parishad, Incidin Bangladesh and Jahangirnagar University's Department of Anthropology, of the north-western ethnic minority communities since January this year, said the government hardly paid any heed to the causes and miseries of the communities.
The preliminary result of the study showed that a total of 1,983 ethnic minority families in 10 north-western districts lost control over 1,748.36 acres of land in the last few years. The forest department grabbed the largest area of 1,185.76 acres, followed by 356.7 acres by different influential quarters who evicted the rightful owners from their ancestral lands by forging documents. Lands used as common property, graveyards and shrines were also grabbed, said the study, and made the shocking revelation that every indigenous family lost more or less than one acre of land.
While launching the
findings of the survey at a workshop on the settlement of north-western indigenous people's land disputes on Saturday at the National Press Club, the secretary-general of the parishad, Rabindra Saren, asked the government to
form an effective land commission to settle the disputes and rehabilitate the indigenous people who were evicted from their lands.
Researchers and experts say that the fate of over 1.5 million indigenous people, who represent 58 small and large groups living in hilly and plain lands across the country, is almost same.
The majority of the indigenous people's household income basically depends on agricultural work.
But their food security and habitat are at stake, as a result of land-grabbing and loss of their traditional sources of livelihood, they said.
The study showed that influential quarters stole land from 285 indigenous families in Naogaon district. Almost a similar situation is seen in Natore, Bogra, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Thakurgaon and Panchagar districts. In Dinajpur district alone, the forest department occupies 1,182.07 acres of land after dispossessing 411 indigenous families.
One of the former chiefs of the caretaker government, Habibur Rahman, said that the activists must make a firm commitment to bring to an end to the disputes on land. There are similar disputes in many countries like Canada, America, Latin America and Australia.
He said that the indigenous people should not be satisfied by only realising their demand for the formation of a land commission. 'You must produce evidence before the commission so that it works in your favour.'
The experts and rights activists opined that the survey has revealed only a partial picture of the land disputes.
They said that they need more surveys to reveal the whole truth.
'This survey's findings are like the tip of the iceberg, the real situation is more disastrous,' said Moazzem Hossain, director of Gram Bikash Kendra, a non-governmental organisation working for realisation of the indigenous people's demands.
He said that the state has taken hardly any initiative to rehabilitate or compensate the dispossessed indigenous families despite the fact that the government took away their lands for different development projects.
Ushatan Talukdar, the chief of the political wing of the Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, asked the government to ensure justice to the ethic minority groups. He said that the minorities have always remained suppressed, and the government has always sided with the powerful quarters. 'This attitude should be changed.'
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