‘Apply Act to save land of adivasis’

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Tuesday, 16 November 2010

Author / Source : STAFF REPORTER

SYLHET, NOV 15: The government has been urged to implement Section 97 of Land Act, 1950 to ensure security of land owned by indigenous communities. Ethnic Community Development Organisation (ECDO) hosted the workshop, on ‘Rights on land and forest of indigenous people’, at a city hotel on Sunday.
According to the speakers, indigenous people in the plains face problems such as encroachment, eviction from khas land, harassment by criminals and fake land records, among others. “There is a spiritual relationship between indigenous people and their land but the people are being evicted from their land by various means,” they said.
In his keynote paper, ECDO executive director Laksmi Kanta Shingha said the policy of “ethnic cleansing” is responsible for encroachment of land belonging to the indigenous people.
Chairing the inaugural session, Faruk Mahmud Chowdhury, administrator of Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and industries, said ensuring equal rights for all citizens is the government’s responsibility. He stressed the need to ensure the rights of indigenous people on plain land.
Sylhet District Bar Association president Emad Ullah Shahidul Islam said only proper implementation of Section 97 of Land Act, 1950 can ensure land owned by indigenous people is not snatched away from them. He said there are more than 45 ethnic communities who would be added under the current Act.
Among others, journalist Aziz Ahmed Salim, Al Azad, Iqbal Siddique, Sangram Shingha, Uzzal Mehdi, Abdul Alim Shah and Mintu Deshowara spoke at the workshop.