Indigenous people reiterate their demand for land commission
The indigenous people here yesterday demanded immediate formation of a separate land commission to protect their rights and to bring an end to their sufferings.
They said they were becoming landless as criminals and local influential people, in collusion with a section of officials, were grabbing their lands.
At a view exchange meeting with the journalists of both print and electronic media in the town yesterday, they urged the authorities to meet their 9-point demand.
District unit of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, a platform for the indigenous people, organised the programme while its president Surjo Mormu presided.
Social, economic and political rights of the indigenous people are yet to be established. Many indigenous families have been evicted from their ancestral land and homesteads as local influential people grabbed their lands, the indigenous leaders said.
They called to declare all the fake documents to grab their land illegal and withdrawal of all false cases against the indigenous people.
The indigenous community is still lagging behind in the society as they are not getting facilities like others in the fields of education and job, they further said.
They also demanded allocation of khas land among the landless indigenous people for their survival.
The 9-point demand of the indigenous community included establishment of constitutional rights of indigenous people and formation of a separate land commission to protect their land rights.
The speakers at the discussion said that the indigenous people became victim of discrimination in different fields as the government did not pay proper attention to their causes.
They called to establish a separate ministry for indigenous people to deal with their problems.
The speakers also demanded mother tongue-based primary education for their children and the community's quota in higher education and government service.
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