- News>
- Asia
2,000 indigenous Bangladeshis rally for equal rights
Dhaka, Aug 09: More than 2,000 indigenous people from across Bangladesh rallied today in the capital Dhaka to demand equal rights and an end to encroaching development on their lands.
Dhaka, Aug 09: More than 2,000 indigenous people from across Bangladesh rallied today in the capital Dhaka to demand equal rights and an end to encroaching development on their lands.
Wearing traditional colourful dresses and head gear,
the demonstrators chanted slogans and sang, in an allusion to
the US civil rights movement, "We shall overcome".
The protest was held at a memorial dedicated to those who died when another protest for ethnic rights was brutally crushed in 1952. Then, protesters called for the use of Bengali, Bangladesh's national language, in what was then part of Pakistan.
Most of the 77 tribes live in the rugged east of Bangladesh, bordering Myanmar and far-eastern India.
Tribespeople estimate their population at around two million in the country of 130 million people.
Jyotirindrio Bodhopriya Larma, a former rebel leader of the Chakma tribe who heads the Bangladeshi Adibashi Forum, which brings together indigenous people, called for an end to encroachment on their land.
"People are illegally taking away our land in the name of development and this must stop," Larma told the rally.
Speakers also called for security for indigenous women, alleging they are frequently harassed by security personnel or other non-tribal people. A number of women came out for the rally, some carrying babies, despite the sultry weather.
Bureau Report
The protest was held at a memorial dedicated to those who died when another protest for ethnic rights was brutally crushed in 1952. Then, protesters called for the use of Bengali, Bangladesh's national language, in what was then part of Pakistan.
Most of the 77 tribes live in the rugged east of Bangladesh, bordering Myanmar and far-eastern India.
Tribespeople estimate their population at around two million in the country of 130 million people.
Jyotirindrio Bodhopriya Larma, a former rebel leader of the Chakma tribe who heads the Bangladeshi Adibashi Forum, which brings together indigenous people, called for an end to encroachment on their land.
"People are illegally taking away our land in the name of development and this must stop," Larma told the rally.
Speakers also called for security for indigenous women, alleging they are frequently harassed by security personnel or other non-tribal people. A number of women came out for the rally, some carrying babies, despite the sultry weather.
Bureau Report