Rangamati violence aimed at destabilising CHT
Alleges protest rally
The recent violence in Rangamati, in which about 20 people were injured following clashes between Bangalee settlers and Adivasi people, was pre-planned and part of a conspiracy to make the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) unstable, speakers said at a protest rally yesterday.
The Bangalee settlers attacked the indigenous people in presence of law enforcers, they said, and termed the attack "communal".
The speakers demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment to the instigators of the attack and the attackers, punitive action against the law enforcers who gave direct or indirect provocation to the violence, and immediate implementation of the CHT peace treaty.
The Saturday clashes at Rangamati Government College reportedly broke out over "a trivial matter".
Prof Mesbah Kamal, president of Bangladesh Adivasi Odhikar Andolan, however, said, "It's not an isolated or trivial incident. Such incident is on the rise, and it is unwarranted."
Fifteen years have passed since the CHT peace accord was signed, yet the attack on Adivasi is on, he told the rally organised by Nagorik Samaj on the DU campus. "Please don't take any more test of their [indigenous people's] patience," he added.
Rabindranath Soren, president of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, said there was no reason to think that the indigenous people would remain silent if such attacks continued. "But we want to keep faith in the government and urged them to stop such repression."
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