Modi, Hasina urged to protect Bangladeshi tribals

Various tribal groups have urged the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh to protect the minority tribals and non-tribals in Bangladesh, an official said on Friday.

Chakma National Council of India (CNCI) and other tribal organisations have sent separate letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi Premier Sheikh Hasina to protect the tribals and other minorities residing in Bangladesh.

The tribal organisations have been holding protest rallies in Tripura and other north-eastern states since Wednesday to protest the recent attacks on tribals in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of southeast Bangladesh.

"At least seven aged tribal men were brutally killed by the Muslim settlers in Langadu Upazila in Rangamati Zilla on June 2. Bangladesh Army and police remained spectators when the Muslims attacked the innocent tribals," CNCI President Sobha Ranjan Chakma told reporters on Friday.

He said: "The Bengali Muslim settlers also set afire and vandalised several hundred houses and shops of the Chakma community following the death of a local Muslim youth leader."

The CNCI leader said that after the massive attacks, thousands of tribals, including women and children, fled to jungles to protect themselves from the attackers.

Chakma said, "We have urged both Indian and Bangladeshi Prime Ministers to take appropriate measures to rehabilitate the affected tribals and punish the culprits."

"We have also urged the Bangladesh Prime Minister to implement the 1997 Peace Accord signed with the Shanti Bahini. Many provisions of the peace accord are yet to be executed, leading to the sufferings of the tribals," CNCI Advisor Srota Ranjan Khisa told IANS.

The Shanti Bahini was the armed wing of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), a political organisation of the tribals in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

The PCJSS and the CNCI have been demanding withdrawal of the army from the CHT, where once the Buddhist tribals population formed the majority in the population.

--IANS

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