Plain Land Indigenous People
Separate land commission stressed
Rights activists in the country yesterday stressed the need for the formation of a separate land commission to solve long standing land disputes of indigenous communities living on the plains.
They said that influential quarters were taking advantage of the non-availability of proper documents and records to grab land from indigenous communities with the help of corrupt land record officials.
The activists were speaking at a seminar titled 'Using common resources by the ethnic minorities of Barind Tracts: Problems and potentialities'.
Advancement of Marginalised Adivasis Deprived of Economic Resources (AMADER) Project -- a government initiative supported by donor agency and implemented by development organisation NETZ to reduce extreme poverty of marginalised communities in Barind Tracts -- organised the seminar at the city's Cirdap auditorium.
Joint management of available common resources by indigenous community, local people and development organisations can upgrade the living standard of indigenous people, speakers said.
Addressing the seminar, former adviser to caretaker government advocate Sultana Kamal emphasised on joint efforts of the government, political parties and NGOs to end discrimination against indigenous people.
She suggested that indigenous people should unite at all levels to communicate effectively with policymakers to secure their rights.
Barrister Sara Hossain, honorary director of Blast (Bangladesh Legal Aid and Service Trust), emphasised on arranging legal aid service for the marginalised communities to protect their lands and rights.
Presenting a paper, academician and researcher Dr Meghna Guhathakurta and Dr Korban Ali showed that the insufficient and inefficient legal structure and judicial system, corruption in land records and lack of understanding about common resources are the major causes of conflict between indigenous people and Bengalis, and sometimes even within the indigenous communities.
Speakers also placed several points of recommendations including formation of a separate land commission for plain land indigenous communities, setting up of special tribunals at district level and creation of awareness about legal provisions to solve land disputes.
Joint secretary of LGRD and Cooperatives Ministry's Asadul Islam, Executive Director of Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) Shamsul Huda, AMADER Project Director Manzurul Karim, among others, also spoke at the seminar attended by NGO officials and development activists.
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