Ethnic minorities need special stimulus packages

Several thousands of people from ethnic minority groups including Chakma, Marma, Garo and Santhal lost jobs and returned home during the coronavirus pandemic. Uncertainly also looms large over the ones’ dependent on agriculture or daily wages. In this backdrop, the government should provide the ethnic minorities with special stimulus packages. The distress of the indigenous people, both from hills and the plains, will further increase if the government takes no immediate action.

Speakers at a virtual roundtable titled ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples: Inclusion in national development during coronavirus outbreak’ said this on Saturday. Prothom Alo and Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) organised the meeting marking the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (9 August).

The ethnic minorities from plains are not under any ministry, said Fazle Hossain Badshah, member of the parliament and convener of parliamentary caucus on indigenous people and minorities, adding that though the Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs ministry receives some allocation in the national budget, ethnic minorities from plains do not receive any. He stressed forming a different ministry for them.

Lands of the marginalised ethnic minorities are grabbed during any crisis and this was still prevalent during the coronavirus outbreak, Fazle Hossain said adding that the minorities are not receiving relief or treatment, but being harassed by concocted cases to evict them from their land. The minister urged to reactivate the Chittagong land commission and stressed forming a different land commission for the ethnic minorities from plains.

People from the ethnic minorities have been suffering from a number of problems, said researcher and author Syed Abul Maksud. Coronavirus has increased their crises, he said adding that they needed special stimulus funds. Initiatives must be taken to implement the articles of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, and the state should disclose as to why the treaty was not implemented, he said.

According to the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) pledges, the most backward people were supposed to receive topmost priority, but this is not being implemented, said Yan Yan, queen of Chakma circle and human rights activist. It has not been identified why the people of hills and plains are still lagging behind and how their distress could be addressed. Actual development is only possible when marginalised people’s participation is ensured, she said.

Awami League had made some pledges in favour of ethnic minority demands before the 2008 parliamentary elections, but it did not stick to that, Shamsul Huda, executive director of ALRD, said adding that the ruling party should not have retracted later.

In the keynote of the meeting, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum general secretary Sanjeeb Drong, said the current pandemic has driven around 70 per cent of ethnic minorities from the plains below poverty line. The government should grant them special incentives. Sanjeeb quoted the SDG slogan ‘leaving no one behind’ and said ethnic minorities have been especially emphasised in the SDGs. It should be identified how the ethnic minorities and their organisations can participate in the implementation of SDGs during the coronavirus situation and also in future, he said.

The ethnic minorities believe in traditional land management, but this is being violated in many cases, said Sadeka Halim, dean of social science faculty at Dhaka University. She said the violation was taking place through several development projects at the plains and hills.

Jatiya Adivasi Parishad president, Rabindranath Saren, said most of the lands of the ethnic minorities has been occupied and only 8 per cent of them own some lands.

Gautam Dewan, president of Chittagong Hill Tracts Citizens’ Committee, said though 23 years have passed since the Chittagong Hill Tracts treaty, it has not been implemented. If there is no immediate initiative, the ethnic minorities living in the hills will fall into trouble as the impact of the pandemic will not be over soon.

ALRD deputy executive director, Rowshan Jahan Moni depicted the impact of the pandemic on marginalised peoples and those living in hills.

The inclusion of the ethnic minorities from hills and plains in national development should be discussed by each quarter, said Khushi Kabir, ALRD chairperson. If the government ensures inclusion of concerned people through discussions, the situation created by COVID-19 can be addressed, she said and added that, this would solve all kinds of deprivation too.

Prothom Alo associate editor Abdul Qayyum delivered the inaugural speech of the programme. The meeting was moderated by Prothom Alo assistant editor Firoz Choudhury.