Indigenous people not recognised for communal mindset
Says Larma
Indigenous people are not recognised in the constitution of Bangladesh due to the communal mind-set of the successive governments, said Chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Regional Council Jyotirindro Bodhipriya Larma yesterday.
The indigenous people are being “obstructed” to be identified them as the citizens of this country as the ruling classes (the governments) are not democratic, he told a discussion in the city.
Larma, also the chief of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS), said though Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had signed the CHT peace accord, her government could not implement it in 13 years. “Twenty eight months of this government have been past but still there is no sign of implementation of the treaty,” he said.
Larma told the roundtable discussion titled “Human Rights of Indigenous People and ILO Convention 169: Right of Self Identification and Constitutional Recognition” organised by the parliamentary cocas on indigenous people.
Indigenous people of the country had been demanding constitutional recognition since the independence and recently a parliamentary special committee, which is working on bringing constitutional amendments, has said it has initiated giving constitutional recognition to the indigenous people as “ethnic minority.”
If the state had given indigenous community their rights of land, economy and politics in 1972 then there would have been no violence in the CHT area that continued for two decades, he said.
Larme signed the CHT peace accord in 1997 on behalf of the PCJSS to end instability in the area.
Rashed Khan Menon, convenor of the parliamentary cocas on indigenous people, said in principle we agree that the indigenous people should be recognised in the constitution but the debate is on whether the words would be “ethnic minority” or “indigenous people.”
Chairman of National Human Rights Commission Prof Mizanur Rahman said a section in the country often creates division by saying 'we' and 'they' referring to Bangali and indigenous people respectively but it should be always 'we'. “The indigenous people should be recognised in the constitution to express our stand against all kinds of disparity,” he said.
Member of the parliamentary special committee on constitutional amendment Hasanul Haque Inu, chairman of parliamentary standing committee on land ministry AKM Mojammel Haque, General Secretary Bangladesh Adivasi Forum Sanjib Drong, among others, spoke.
Barrister Raja Debashish Roy, Chakma Circle Chief, presented a keynote paper in the meeting.
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