Editorial
Ensuring rights of indigenous communities
Idea of a national commission makes sense
The demand for the formation of a national commission to ensure the rights of Bangladesh's indigenous people makes sense. And it does that because of the large scale deprivation they have been subjected to over the decades stretching back to British colonial times. The irony is that even in an independent Bangladesh, where attitudes ought to have changed positively regarding the rights citizens across the board are entitled to, discrimination toward the many ethnic minorities has persisted. It is a matter of deep embarrassment for us and will remain so until concrete steps are taken toward redressing their grievances. That is a strong message coming out of a workshop organised by the Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights in the city on Tuesday.
The perspectives on the issue are rather clear to us. While we remain aware that the rights of indigenous peoples all over the world are now acknowledged, though not implemented, in Bangladesh those rights are yet to be internalised and made an integral part of the social structure. There are statistics which demonstrate the dilemma in which the ethnic minorities find themselves. A high percentage of indigenous people are still victims of discrimination in one form or the other ranging from limited educational opportunities to chances of employment. Many of them are dispossessed of their ancestral land, some putting it at 20 percent. More importantly, their legitimate grievances must not only be seen to be addressed but also be met in reality in order for our indigenous communities to feel that they are part of the national mainstream instead of being a footnote in our social history.
The test of a mature democracy is in the way it treats its ethnic and other minorities. That being the necessary yardstick of any assessment of how we have performed all these years, we as a nation now need to focus our energies on a correction of the situation. That means the opportunities that are available to all citizens under the constitution have to be ensured to all our indigenous communities. Rather than romanticise their ways of life as part of the culture we regularly project to the outside world, we must now go forward in meeting their basic needs and making them feel cared for. The government in particular and society in general must make sure that the ethnic minorities are accorded the dignity they so fully and richly deserve .
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments