Rape used as weapon

Indigenous women in CHT increasingly becoming victims of violence designed to displace them 

Tamanna Khan

 

Rape has become a most pervasive crime against indigenous women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and the perpetrators in majority of the cases are Bangalee settlers, lawyers and rights activists say.

   

The idea behind this is to create panic among indigenous women and thus force them to leave their homes and stay somewhere else. This makes it easier for the settlers to occupy their land.

   

Before the signing of the peace treaty between the government and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti in 1997, rape was used as a weapon to suppress the indigenous community's movement for autonomy, said Samari Chakma, a lawyer and rights activist in Khagrachhari. 

"But over the past few years, incidents of rape have increased to evict the hill people from their land," she told The Daily Star.

Between January and April this year, 15 cases of violence against indigenous women have been reported in the region. Of them, eight were rape incidents and two murders after rape, according to a report by Kapaeeng Foundation.

LAND OF FEAR

The foundation's 2013 report shows that between 2007 and 2013, some 175 incidents of violence against women took place in the three hill districts -- Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban. As many as 49 of them were rape and gang rape.

"Minor girls, particularly those below 18, are the most common victims. Many are murdered after rape," said Tuku Talukdar, convener of Narir Proti Sohingsota Protirodh Andolon, a Rangamati-based rights organisation. Young girls usually fall victim on their way to and from school or when they go to nearby bushes to collect firewood or bring their cattle home, added Tuku, also an advocate.

As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult for women and young girls to come out of their homes alone, something they did without fear even five to six years ago.

And even as such violence against women rises, the perpetrators go unpunished or even unidentified.

Between January 2010 and December 2011, 22 cases were filed for rape in Bandarban, 36 in Khagrachhari and 37 in Rangamati. Trials in several cases have ended, but not a single accused was convicted, according to a study by the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission.

"Most perpetrators have links with local Bangalee councils or influential political leaders of the Awami League, BNP and Jamaat. They often try to prevent the families from reporting to the police by settling the matter with money," said Tuku.

In other cases, victims do not report those because of the social stigma associated with it.

According to the Kapaeeng Foundation report, four of the eight rape incidents between January and April this year have been reported to the police.

Weak charge sheets, language barriers faced by the indigenous community at police stations and courts, where most of the officials are Bangalees, weaken the cases, according to lawyers.

Samari cited the example of a Tripura girl who, already overwhelmed by the trauma of recounting the assault, failed to properly relate the incident to the defence lawyer during cross-examination in the court.

This will certainly give the accused some benefit of doubt and may weaken the merit of the ongoing trial, lawyers said.

In some cases police do not take the complaints. In other instances, they write the first information report ignoring the victim's statement, said Tuku.

Then there is the lengthy legal process.

"The dates of hearing are set so far apart that the accused often get bail in the meantime and threaten the witnesses and the victims," said Shefalika Tripura, executive director of Khagrapur Mohila Kalyan Samity, an NGO that provides legal help to rape victims. 

'IT'S ALL ABOUT LAND'

Nobomohan Tripura, whose mother was raped and killed in September 2009 over a land dispute, described how all the five accused have been threatening his family since.

"Four accused were arrested but they came out of jail after getting bail from the High Court. They have been threatening us to withdraw the case.

"They say I will meet an end like my mother if I do not comply," he said, adding that they cannot go near their land out of fear. 

Shefalika of Khagrapur Mohila Kalyan Samity said, "Had there been conviction in at least one case, people would have received a message and refrained from committing such crimes."

Another problem cited by lawyers and rights activists is tampering with the medical report in many rape cases.

Both Samari and Tuku alleged that doctors in the hill districts have been ordered by the higher authorities to produce negative medical examination report in cases of rape by Bangalee settlers to prevent communal tension.

Samari gave the example of Sabita Chakma's case.  The 30-year-old was raped and killed on February 15 this year, allegedly by three Bangalee sand collectors. 

The medical examination report came out negative though Sabita's body was found almost without any clothes, said Somari.

Sanjib Tripura, residential medical officer of Khagrachhari district Sadar hospital where the examination was done, said all the tests were conducted as per the due procedures and reports were given based on the findings.

But he declined to speak about any particular case.

The troubles in the hills have a link with the non-implementation of the peace accord, according to Meghna Guhathakurta, a researcher and advisor of the CHT commission.

Because of the government's failure to keep its promise, Bangalee settlers have continued to occupy the land that once belonged to the indigenous community, she said, adding that there was no trust between the two peoples there.

"The issue of land grabbing has created this mistrust in the hills where sexual violence is part of the day to day conflict," she said.

Under the peace treaty, no one can buy, sell, lease or even transfer the ownership of land there without the prior permission of the CHT regional council. But the authorities have failed to ensure this.        

Contacted, Rangamati police superintendent Amena Begum denied that police were reluctant to take rape case.

"There is a strict order that they must inform the SP or their senior officials whenever such an incident takes place. If we come to know of the incident from the media or any other sources, then the police officer is held accountable."

She, however, said attempts were often made by indigenous community leaders or Bangalee union chairmen or members to settle the rape cases out of court. "We are trying to build awareness to prevent this."

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Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/rape-used-as-weapon-35181

The political economy behind ethnic violence in the CHT

ON July 5, the car containing members of the CHT Commission came under attack when they were leaving Rangamati for Chittagong. This was the seventh mission of the Commission and their objective was to investigate allegations of human rights violations and make an assessment of the status of the implementation of the 1997 CHT Accord.

A BGB sentry post about 50 feet away from a children's school in Babuchara, Khagrachari. Local people have protested and clashed with the BGB there over the setting up of a BGB battalion headquarter. Photo: Hana Shams Ahmed

The particular allegations that the Commission was investigating were: a case in Babuchara, Khagrachari, where 21 indigenous families had become homeless after protests followed by clashes with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) over land acquisition of local people to set up a new battalion headquarter; a clash between locals and policemen in Baghaichari Rangamati, over setting up of a Buddhist meditation centre; a case in Rowangchari, Bandarban, where BGB allegedly acquired land to set up a sector battalion headquarter next to a Buddhist temple; and the expansion of a military garrison in Ruma, Bandarban, which would allegedly leave hundreds of indigenous people homeless in three mouzas of that area.

One can conclude that there was a very strong interest from vested quarters to oppose these inquiries by the Commission, an interest so strong that even a large number of 20-something armed police officers not only failed to stop the attack but also failed to arrest a single unarmed attacker from such close proximity.

This is, of course, not the first time that an attack has taken place in the CHT in presence of police officers. In fact, it is a recurring theme in all the attacks carried out on indigenous peoples in the last few years -- including one in Sajek in August 2008, another in Sajek and Khagrachari sadar in February 2010, Rangamati in September 2012, Taindong in August 2013, to name just a few. It is needless to talk about the insecurity of the people who faced this violence when even police protection failed to protect the car of the CHT Commission.

It was six Bengali groups, including Somo Odhikar Andolon, Parbatya Gono Parishad, Parbatya Bangali Chhattra Parishad, Parbattya Nagarik Parishad, Parbatya Bangali Chhattra Aikya Parishad and Parbatya Jubo Front who called a blockade to obstruct the movement of the CHT Commission and who we can conclude were also involved with the attack on the Commission. It is a well-known fact that Somo Odhikar Andolon (and perhaps the others too) are composed of all major national political groups, including Awami League, BNP and Jamaat, one of the few places in Bangladesh where such all-party solidarity exists. Apart from the patronisation of the political groups, it is also composed of leaders from various occupational cooperatives in the CHT and other big businesspersons in the area. These leaders have, over the years, been involved with land-grabbing and building up a Bengali-centric leadership, and are also believed to get their sense of superiority and impunity through the security forces.

The Somo Odhikar Andolon (Equal Rights Movement) and other such groups play the ethnic nationalism card in a rather skewed manner. While the history of Bangladesh has many examples of attacks and marginalisation on ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, while the percentage of indigenous peoples in the CHT continues to dwindle, while the state continues to fail to protect the land and self-identification rights of the indigenous peoples, these groups claim that it is in fact the Bengalis who are being disenfranchised. The Bengalis, who were brought into the CHT under state patronisation and continue to receive food rations under the military's pacification programme, are being projected as 'minorities' and to prove their case their right-wing media depict CHT Commission as anti-Bengali, and as having secessionist policies, and so must be prevented from coming to the CHT at all costs.

But, in fact, the post-conflict violence in the CHT is fuelled not by nationalist ethnic sentiment, nor by external security concerns, but rather by the political economy of land and natural resources in the CHT. It is by constructing a sense of ethnic insecurity that these organised Bengali groups carry out attacks with such zeal over indigenous villagers. Although ethnic, nationalist sentiments have repeatedly been used to inflame the violence in the CHT, what lies behind is the interest of land-grabbers and the political elite who have support from state forces.

It is also worth noting that the field visits planned by the CHT Commission this time all involved allegations of land acquisition by state forces for increasing the presence of security personnel. The military is not only increasing its presence in the CHT, but has also been increasingly involved with development work and setting up of tourist spots -- neither of which is in their function.

It will be interesting to see if Hervé Ladsous, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for the Department Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), who is due to make a high-level visit to Bangladesh later this month, will enquire into human rights violations in the CHT in the presence of the military. The DPKO has so far played a very hands-off approach to matters within the territory of the troop-sending countries. Until then, enquirers of land-grabbing and human rights violations in the CHT may have to face the same fate as the CHT Commission.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/the-political-economy-behind-ethnic-violence-in-the-cht-33682

Building Bgb Battalion Hq

21 Adivasi families become homeless

Evicted by Border Guard Bangladesh, Gopa, her hand in the cast, along with the Adivasis who have been evicted from their homes is now living in a school in Khagrachhari. The photo was taken recently. Photo: Courtesy

Gopa Rani Chakma has become homeless for the second time in her life.
The mother of three children along with 20 other Adivasi families was made homeless when Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel started fencing off their villages -- Shashi Mohon Karbari Para and Jatna Mohon Karbari Para of Dighinala -- with barbed wire on May 15.

The BGB is building a battalion headquarters there. The BGB restricted the villagers from entering the area.

"My life has been a continuous struggle to find a home in Bangladesh. But I've always been denied that right," Gopa told this correspondent in a school compound where the evicted families have been staying for nearly a month.

Her 16-year-old daughter Opsora had been arrested in a case filed by BGB against several hundred people following a clash between the villagers and BGB men on June 10. The clash broke out when several Adivasi women, including Gopa, attempted to go to their homes inside the fenced off area.

The clash left four women injured. The villagers have not been allowed to go to their homes since.

In 1989, Gopa and many others in the village had fled to Tripura to escape violent clashes between the indigenous people and the armed forces. She returned to her village after the signing of Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord in 1997, but could not manage to build a home there until recently.

Gopa's ancestors came to the area in the 1960s when they were displaced from Rangamati due to the construction of the Kaptai Dam. The BGB headquarters is being built on 29.81 acres of land where the decades-old Baghaichhari Government Primary School (No 2) is. As the entire area is fenced off with barbed wire now, the school has become virtually inaccessible to its students, many of whom are from the evicted families.

“None of us will send the children to a school inside the headquarters that made us homeless in the first place,” said Santosh Kumar Karbari, a village elder who lost two shops there.

Meanwhile, around 80 people of the evicted families have taken shelter in three classrooms of the nearby Babuchhara High School. Women, children and the elderly have been living in inhuman conditions in the dingy rooms for over a month.
“Most of us have not been able to bring even kitchen utensils and clothes with us, let alone other necessary stuff. I don't know how long we will be able to live like this,” said Mrinal Kanti Chakma, another evicted resident of the village.

Uncertainty grips them as they do not know where to go when the school opens after the Ramadan holidays. The local administration as well as the BGB, however, said the families were making "false claims" in the hope of making some quick cash in the name of compensation.

“A vested quarter, which does not want the headquarters to be built here, has instigated the indigenous people to make such irrational claims,” said Major Kamal Uddin of BGB 51 Battalion.

Asked why the primary school had been fenced in, he said, “We will open the gates during school hours so the students can attend classes.” Md Masud Karim, deputy commissioner of Khagrachhari, admitted that fencing the school was a mistake. "I will tell them to remove the fence," he said while talking to journalists at his residence.
He asserted that the 21 families, claiming to have lost their homes, were doing so "to tarnish the image of BGB and hamper the administration's land acquisition process".
The indigenous people said the administration had offered 10 of them cash for their land and trees but they had rejected the offer outright.

"We want our homes back. No amount of compensation is as good as our homes," said Mrinal Kanti Chakma. Nobokamal Chakma, the chairman of Dighinala upazila, said the authorities should have asked the opinion of the local government representatives before evicting the families.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/newsarchive/21-adivasi-families-become-homeless-33254

Int'l CHT Commission Motorcade

Attackers should be sued for attempted murder

Says columnist Syed Abul Moksud
 

A case for attempted murder should be filed against those who attacked the motorcade of the International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission in Rangamati on Saturday, noted columnist Syed Abul Moksud said yesterday.

Somebody could have got killed by the projectiles raining down on the two cars, he told a press conference organised by "Nagorik Protinidhi Dal", a group of rights activists, at Dhaka Reporters Unity.

Bangalee settlers allegedly carried out the attack, opposing the commission members' visit to the three hill districts following the news that the government has evicted 21 indigenous families in Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari to build the headquarters of a Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) battalion there. Nagorik Protinidhi Dal visited Dighinala upazila last month.

Moksud said, “Evicting indigenous people goes against the principles of our constitution, which protects the interests of underprivileged communities.”

Reading out a statement, activist Rashed Rine said the displace dadivasi families had been living in a local school for nearly a month, lacking proper sanitation and hygiene.

Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum, said the attack on an international rights body like the CHT Commission alone showed how vulnerable adivasi people were in the hill tracts.

“The indigenous people are living like exiles in their own lands,” he said.
Other speakers demanded that the evicted families be given back their homes.

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Courtesy: The Daily Star, July 08, 2014

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/city/attackers-should-be-sued-for-attempted-murder-32311

Four injured in attack on CHTC team

The motorcade came under attack near local DGFI office
 

Four officials of International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC) and a police officer received injuries when their motorcade came under attack, allegedly by Bangalee settlers, in Rangamati yesterday.

The members of CHTC alleged that activists of Bangalee Somo Odhikar Andolon and its like-minded organisations might have been behind attack on their motorcade, which was under police protection, in Rangamati town.

The attack was launched around 2pm in Omda Miah Hill area of the town. The injured were CHTC member Dr Iftekharuzzaman, also executive director of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Research Official Ilira Dewan, car driver Nur Hossain and Sadar Police Station OC Monu Sohel Imtiaz.

Three rounds of bullets were fired in the air while the attackers also hurled brick chips on the microbus carrying the CHTC members, Abul Kalam Azad, the additional police superintendent of Rangamati, said.

“We are yet to arrest anyone. We are not sure who were involved in the attack. We will follow legal procedures once we gather all the information,” he added.

Under police escort, a car carrying the commission members left Rangamati town around 4:30pm.

Sultana Kamal, co-chairman of the CHTC, later at a press conference in Chittagong said six organisations of the CHT, which had been defying the conditions of the 1997 Peace Accord from the very beginning, might have launched the attack.

Commission members including lawyer Sara Hossain, rights activist Khushi Kabir and Swapan Adnan were also travelling with the team.

Members of the commission were carrying out their seventh mission in the three CHT districts scheduled for July 2-8. As part of the mission, they visited different places including Babuchhara, Todekmara and Dui Tila of Rangamati and Khagrachhari. They also spoke to various groups and members of the local administration.

However, leaders of Bangalee Somo Odhikar Parishad and three other settler Bangalee-led groups earlier protested the CHT commission’s visit alleging that it would damage peace and tranquillity in the area. They labelled the commission as a controversial organisation and its members as brokers.

They also urged the government to ban it in the CHT.

Two of the four organisations on July 3 even announced a four-day blockade in Bandarban from yesterday claiming that the commission was trying to create divisions among the Bangalees and the indigenous people of the hills. The blockade was withdrawn yesterday as the team cancelled its tour to Bandarban.

Ripon, a Bangalee youth who witnesses the incident, said: “The attackers set fire to a tire just beside the house of additional SP of Rangamati Sadar Circle. The place is around 60 yards away from a BGB camp. Once the motorcade reached the area, they started hurling bricks.

“Around 150-200 people were in the group. All of them were Bangalee but they are not inhabitants of the area. They were chanting slogans mostly against Sultana Kamal and in favour of Somo Odhikar organisations.”

Sultana Kamal said the seven-member team went to Bandarban on July 2 to see progress of the execution of the Peace Accord. The visit was aimed at finding out whether the CHT people had been getting benefits of the accord and the barriers behind its full implementation, she said.

“We sat with different organisations of the CHT areas including Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samity (PCJSS) and United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) in Bandarban. We had a scheduled meeting with Bangalee Somo Odhikar Parishad in Rangamati today [yesterday]. When we were staying in Parjatan Motel this morning [yesterday], we were trying to communicate with its leaders. However, they refused to sit with us.

“A number of local people, inspired by its local leader Nurjahan, started gathering people around our hotel and hurled abuse at us,” Sultana said adding that they sought help from the law enforcement agencies as the crowd, at one stage, became threat for them.

She said they finally decided to leave Rangamati as the attempts for discussion had gone into vain.

“We faced the attack when our motorcade, under police protection, reached in front of the local DGFI office. The attackers from behind the DGFI office started hurling stones at our vehicles. They also shot two rounds of bullets,” said Sultana, also a former caretaker government adviser.

“The injured were taken to Combined Military Hospital in Chittagong Cantonment where we had a scheduled meeting with the GOC of the cantonment. The meeting was postponed due to the incident,” she added.

When contacted, Central Coordinator of Parbatya Chattagram Somo Odhikar Andolon Moniruzzaman Monir declined to comment whether his party members were involved in the attack or not.

“I believe aggrieved Bangalee people did this,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Bangalee Somo Odhikar Parishad is a faction operating under the Parbatya Chattagram Somo Odhikar Andolon.

The other organisations supporting the Andolon are Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad (PBCP), Parbatya Nagorik Parishad (PNP), Parbatya Dalopati Parishad (PDP) and Parbatya Chhatra Oikya Parishad (PCAP).

The CHT commission officials said they had contacted the leaders of Bangalee Somo Odhikar Parishad to have an appointment so that the commission could take their opinion on the CHT issues.

Asked about it, Monir said: “The Rangamati district administration contacted us over phone and asked us to prepare a group of representatives to sit with the commission officials. We rejected their invitation since we did not get any formal invitation from the commission in this regard.”

At one point, he said: “Why should we meet them? They brought with them Ilira Dewan who was a member of the Hill Women’s Federation for a long time. We told them [the commission] not to come to the CHT.”

Ilira was injured critically in the attack. 

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Courtesy: Dhaka Tribune, July 06, 2014

Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2014/jul/06/four-injured-attack-chtc-team

Attack on CHT commission car in Rangamati

Three people including a member of CHT (Chittagong Hill Tracts) commission were injured as its vehicle came under an attack by Bangalee settlers, who have been protesting the visit of the commission members in Rangamati today.

Photo: Collected

Commission member Dr Iftekharuzzaman, also executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Monu Sohel Imtiaz, officer-in-charge of Rangamati Kotwali Police Station, and Ilira Dewan, a researcher of CHT Commission, were injured when the protesters threw brick chips on their vehicles.

Two vehicles -- one of the commission and the other of the local police -- came under the attack around 1:50pm when the commission members were going to Rangamati town from Rangamati Parjatan Motel, Hana Shams Ahmed, coordinator of the commission, told The Daily Star.

The commission, which monitors implementation of the 1997 CHT Accord, had gone to visit Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban to learn about a couple of land disputes where state machineries were allegedly involved.

Photo: Collected

The visit included knowing whether any human rights would be violated following the government decision to establish BGB offices in Babuichhara in Khagrachhari.

Bangalee settlers protested the visit, terming it controversial and questioning the impartiality of the commission.

They alleged that the commission is instigating communal conflict between Bangalee and indigenous people in hills.

Declaring the CHT Commission unwanted in the region, earlier around 10:00am, the settlers put barricade on the main road leading towards Rangamati town by felling logs when they came to know about the arrival of the commission members in the district, reports our Rangamati correspondent.

Being resisted by the settlers, the commission members were on their way to Chittagong by the Deputy Commissioner’s vehicle when the report was filed around 3:30pm.

The delegation reached the district yesterday.

Photo: Collected

Six organisations of Bangalee settlers yesterday called on 36-hour road and waterway blockade in Rangamati protesting the commission’s visit to the hilly region. Later, they withdrew the blockade knowing that the commission returned to Chittagong.

The organisations are: Somo Odhikar Andolan, Parbatya Gono Parishad, Parbatya Nagorik Parishad, Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad, Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Oikya Parishad, and Parbatya Somo Odhikar Chhatra Andolan.

The delegation already visited Khagrachhari on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Parbattya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad and Bangalee Nagorik Parishad enforced a four-day blockade in Bandarban from today protesting the commission’s visit in the region.

Only long-distance vehicles are not plying the streets since the blockade began 6:00am, reports our Bandarban correspondent.

Watch on youtube.com:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlN_e1D244Y#t=11

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Courtesy: The Daily Star, Saturday, July 05, 2014

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/attack-on-cht-commission-car-in-rangamati-31904

Chittagong Hill Tracts

Indigenous people's rights under threats

CHT Commission Co-chair Sultana Kamal tells the press; blockade in Rangamati called off after the commission declared 'cancellation' of visit 

The human rights of indigenous communities in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) are under threat, said the International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC) Co-chair Sultana Kamal.

She made the comment while briefing journalists at the auditorium of Khagrachhari Parjatan Motel yesterday.

Implementation of different government projects is dealing a blow to the indigenous people in the region, she said.

Regarding the issue of establishing a BGB battalion in Babuchhara of Khagrachhari, she said local administration should have acquired the land taking into consideration the rights of local indigenous people, who were evicted from their homesteads, and had been passing a miserable life.

She urged the government to take effective measures to preserve the fundamental rights of the indigenous people.

Criticising the movements of Bangalee organizations against the commission, she said the commission had been working for establishing the rights of deprived people, but it was being misunderstood.

The commission's members Swapan Adnan, Khushi Kabir, coordinator Hana Shams Ahmed, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman were present.

Meanwhile, Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad formed a human chain in Larma Square area of the district town, protesting the visit of the commission's team.

The activists also gathered in front of Parjatan Motel and held a rally there.

A delegation of the commission is currently touring the hilly districts to observe the situation there. On the first day, which was Thursday, the delegation visited Khagrachhari and it was supposed to visit Rangamati yesterday.

But in the face of fierce opposition from some Bangalee organisations, it declared that it had cancelled its pre-scheduled programme, and the commission's team was returning to Chittagong.

Following the declaration, six organisations of Bangalee settlers called off their 36-hour road and waterway blockade enforced in Rangamati protesting the visit of the commission's team to the hilly region, reports our Rangamati correspondent.

The organisations enforced the blockade at 6:00am yesterday, but called it off around noon.

The leaders of the organisations at a briefing at Vedvedi in the town said they withdrew the programme as the team cancelled its scheduled visit to Rangamati yesterday.

On Thursday, at a press conference, the six organisations called the blockade declaring the commission unwanted and controversial.

The organisations are: Somo Odhikar Andolan, Parbatya Gono Parishad, Parbatya Nagorik Parishad, Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad, Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Oikya Parishad, and Parbatya Somo Odhikar Chhatra Andolan.

In the meantime, instead of going to Chittagong, the commission's team reached Rangamati in the evening, confirmed our district correspondent.

Two organisations in Bandarban -- Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad and Bangalee Nagorik Parishad -- have called a 96-hour road and waterway blockade tomorrow protesting the commission's visit to the district, reports our Bandarban correspondent.

The commission is likely to visit Bandarban tomorrow.

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Courtesy: The Daily Star, Saturday, July 05, 2014

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/indigenous-peoples-rights-under-threats-31845