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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Ensure constitutional, land rights of indigenous people

Source: The Daily star News

Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, a platform for the indigenous people, yesterday formed a human chain on the premises of deputy commissioner's office here to press home their nine-point demand.

The demands included establishing constitutional rights of indigenous people and formation of a separate land commission to protect their land rights.

The participants placed memorandum to prime minister through Deputy Commissioner after the human chain.

A discussion fallowed the programme on the DC office premises.

The speakers at the discussion said that the indigenous people are victims of discrimination in different fields as the government did not pay proper attention to their causes.

They are always lagging behind as they are being deprived of their rights in all sectors, they said.

The speakers demanded immediate formation of a separate land commission to protect their rights on the plain lands.

They also called to establish a separate ministry for indigenous people to deal with their problems.

Indigenous people are becoming landless as criminals and local influential people with the help of a section of officials are grabbing their lands, they pointed out.

Urging the government to save the indigenous people from the land grabbers, they said all fake documents made to occupy their land should be declared illegal.

They also demanded allocation khas land among the landless indigenous people for their survival.

Demanding withdrawal of all false cases against the indigenous people, they said the indigenous community is still lagging behind in the society as they are not getting facilities like others in the field of education and job.

The speakers also demanded mother tongue-based primary education for their children and the community's quota in higher education and government service.

They said adibashi people played a significant role during the liberation war in 1971 but they are yet to be given constitutional rights.

Earlier, several hundred indigenous people brought out a procession that paraded different streets in the town.