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October 15, 2005
Bangladesh: Non-Muslim Ethnic Groups Harassed by Authorities
We brought you information below on the problems being faced by the ethnic peoples living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, close to the border with Myanmar (Burma). There are various groups living in the region, primarily the Chakma, the Marma and Tripura, collectively known as the Jummah peoples.
An article in today's Bangladesh Independent relates that the leaders of Bangladesh's four main ethnic groups, three of whom live in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), are all being forced to appear before the Parliamentary Standing Affairs Committee on the CHT Affairs Ministry. The reason they are are to be summonsed says much about the coalition government's contempt for freedom of speech. The ethnic leaders are to be questioned about comments they made in May, 2005 in New York, at the United Nation's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
It is believed to have been prompted by allegations sent to the committee through Bangladeshi diplomatic mission in the United States alleging that the statements of the indigenous leaders contained anti-state reference. The committee has said that if the indigenous leaders did not provide satisfactory answers, legal actions would be taken against them.The Awami league, who were in power before the current coalition of Nationalists and Islamists (the Bangladesh National Party and Jaamat-e-Islami), have condemned the move. They have said that after studying the statements of the leaders at the UN Forum, they found "nothing outside the remit of their fundamental rights to express their political views freely and peacefully."
The leaders to be interrogated are Mangal Kumar Chakma, Mrinal Kanti Tripura, Ina Hume and Albert Mankin. The Awami league spokesperson said that the issues they raised are compatible with the UN and the provisions of the CHT peace accords, signed in December 1997 between the Nangladeshi government and representatives of the CHT tribal people.
Their demands for the implementation of the provisions of the peace accord amounts to nothing more than a legitimate criticism of the government's failure to fully abide by its obligations within the ambit of the Peace Accord.The issues were also within the guidelines of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a signatory.
As well as having their leaders harrassed by the government, and women attacked by the army, the excuse of militants hiding in the Chittagong Hill Tracts has been a reason for closing borders around the region. In the hunt for militants, the non-Muslim peoples are at risk.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 15, 2005 10:29 AM
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