'Indigenous people neglected by successive govts'
Staff Correspondent, Rajshahi
Speakers at a roundtable in Rajshahi yesterday said indigenous people on plain lands in northern districts are neglected because of apathy by successive governments. Their lands are being grabbed, languages neglected, culture denigrated while no government made any meaningful effort for their sustainable development, the speakers said. There are 31 ethnic groups in the country, which face threat of extinction. A correct statistics on indigenous people could not be prepared in 10 years because of government's apathy, they said. Astha Network along with 21 NGOs working for Indigenous people organised the roundtable, held at Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries auditorium. Rajshahi University teachers Dr Jehadul Karim and Dr Sujit Sarker moderated the roundtable. Astha president Ganesh Majhi presided. Jatiya Adibashi Parishad president Anil Marandi, secretary Rabindranath Saren, indigenous researcher Everest Hembrom, Adibashi Unnayan Shangstha president Bhagbath Tudu, Prof Fazlul Haque, Dr Shafikul Alam, journalists Hasan Millat, Mustafizur Rahman Khan Alam, Debashish Pramanik and Zamat Khan, among others, spoke at the roundtable. They demanded constitutional recognition of rights of indigenous people and introduction of primary education in their mother languages to increase the rate of literacy. Despite a great contribution during the Liberation War, the indigenous people are yet to get constitutional recognition, a longstanding demand of the communities, the speakers said.
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