Bangladesh: Stern movements needed to safeguard ethnic minorities

Bangladesh's ethnic minorities' rights are to be promoted and protected together with their habitats by a strong movement, say Human rights activists. 

The people of Bangladesh are urged to join the struggle of the country's ethnic minority groups to ensure their rights, speakers said at a forum that focused on their problems, especially regarding their ancestral lands.

"Efforts are underway to obliterate the ethnic minorities without any kind of recognition," said Mesbah Kamal, a professor at Dhaka University. 

"We have to challenge this situation. The role of our ethnic groups in the country's liberation war and democratic struggle should be highlighted," he added. 

The discussion was organized by the Bangladesh Adivasi (indigenous) Forum in Dhaka on October 10.

The Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 was for independence from Pakistan, following the rise of Bengali nationalist and self-determination movements. The Liberation War lasted eight months, two weeks, and six days.

Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of the Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples’ Forum, said, "Ethnic people are demanding to uphold our human rights. We want the right to our lands. In the coming days, Adivasis and Bengalis will form a movement to realize this demand."

"If the government and others do not pay attention to the issues of the indigenous people, no one should deny their demand for self-determination, land rights, and budget allocation for their development, which are part of human rights," said Drong, a Christian.

"It has become a country for Bengali speakers. And constitutionally, it has become a country of Bengali Muslims, who are the majority here. We have to make it a country for everyone," he said.

Not only ethnic minorities but all have to join this movement to include all for the common good, otherwise, it will not be possible to protect ethnic minorities' rights, Drong said. 

In his talk, Khairul Islam Chowdhury, a sociologist and professor at Dhaka University, said, "Lands of the ethnic groups are being invaded and occupied by others because of the totalitarian nature of capitalists. Aggression against ethnic minorities and their lands continues in Bangladesh despite it being a multi-ethnic country."

A recent survey said that ethnic minorities have been undercounted in Bangladesh. Survey results in July showed that minorities number 1.65 million people, one percent of the national total of 165 million, with implications for some of the poorest people in the country.

Ethnic groups share their culture, traditions, language, and history in a country where most people are from different ethnic groups. 

There are two broad categories of ethnic minorities in Bangladesh. These groups reside in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeastern Chattogram Division, and four groups reside in the northern divisions, often referred to as plain land ethnic groups. - Nikhil Gomes