“Adivasis Drowning In Abject Poverty”

SALEEM SAMAD

A rosy picture of national ethnic people dancing and singing adorned in traditional ethnic dress in most national events, cultural programmes on state-run television, Pahari (hill people) ethnic food festivals and recruitment in government jobs is not the true story of the life, livelihood and visibility of the Adivasis in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has 50 different national minorities. They have distinctive languages, cultures and practices which they inherited from their ancestors. The Adivasis are inhabitants in forests in the plainland and the hill forests in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

Left-leaning lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badsha agreed to disagree with leading development economist Prof Abul Barakat on his policy research on the status of Adivasi. He remarked that they should not be bracketed as a disadvantaged or vulnerable population, which does not reflect the real status of the national minorities.

Badsha without hesitation said, the Adivasis are drowning in abject poverty and pushed toward vulnerability by the majoritarian but stopped short of mentioning ‘Bangalee Muslims’ as the devil.

They have adopted several “survival strategies” to combat hunger and poverty from environmentally friendly exploitation of nature, the lawmaker observed.

Well, the lawmaker agreed with Prof Barakat that Adivasis are losing their forest rights, are traditionally conservators of forests, access to farm in khas (public) lands, and clumsy land acquisition formalities have pushed the Adivasis further into vulnerability to survive on a bare minimum.

Dr Barakat shared his findings from a policy study on the ‘Study of Budget Allocation and Budget Spent for Development of Ethnic People (CHT and Plainland) in Bangladesh’, a research conducted by the Human Development Research Centre (HDRC) and funded by Manusher Jonno Foundation on 15 January at CIRDAP Auditorium.

The economist said two-thirds of the Adivasis are caught in a functionally landless category. The poverty index argues that 60 per cent of the national minorities are very poor.

The national budget is more than a statement of allocation for the development of economic and social sectors. But the ethnic people have been deprived and discriminated against historically, admitted the study.

The budget allocations for the Adivasi people are too little and too inadequate. A large part of the allocations are not spent for them and they get an insignificant amount from a large pie.

Adivasi people do not get adequate allocations from the national budget. Like all other ordinary and marginalised people, the participation of Adivasis in the budget planning process is absent.

Even their community and national leaders are not approached for any meaningful discussion to assess the real needs and demands.

Some allocations seem to be “not so needful”, while some other priority needs are ignored, most likely due to the absence of consultation with the communities.

The lack of effective monitoring is another stark reality. A portion of the insufficient allocation to the Adivasi is not fully spent due to a lack of accountability. The quality of spending is questionable due to leakage misappropriation by the rent-seekers, mistargeting and other misgovernance issues.

Reviewing the national budget allocation for the Adivasi it is found that an estimated Taka 2,508 crore (1.22 per cent of the Annual Development Plan-ADP) in financial year (FY) 2020-21; and Tk 2,400 crore in FY 21-22.

It could be understood that the allocations decreased in FY 21-22 by Tk 108 crore or 4.34 per cent in nominal terms.

There are some critical but missing allocation line items for the ethnic people for plainland Adivasi people, those include food assistance in ‘monga’ (absence of farm work) months, legal aids for ownership of grabbed land, education in their language, equitable health services, enhancing livelihood endowment, promotion and protection of Adivasi culture and knowledge management,

The critical missing allocation line items for the CHT Adivasi include adequate budget provisions for the land commission, CHT regional council, perspective plan, biodiversity and environmental protection.

Lawmaker Badsha echoed with Dr Barakat that a separate ministry for the plainland Adivasis was recommended. The present Ministry for CHT Affairs could be revamped and made into one ministry for the national minorities, which may have a CHT Division in the newly formed ministry.

An effective Land Commission is very vital for the Adivasi against organised land grabbers, having political clouts. The land grabbers are actively functioning all over the communes of Adivasi regions with impunity.

The land litigations in district courts are another frustration for the Adivasis who lost their ancestral lands to the land grabbers. The worst case scenario is when the state acquires a large portion of lands which belonged to the Adivasis in a bid to develop so-called eco-parks or lease the land to private corporations for the construction of resorts and plantation gardens.

Finally, the study recommends emphasising food security, inclusive development, widen the social net to trap the Adivasis slipping into abject poverty and hunger.

First published in The News Times,January 16, 2023

Saleem Samad, is an award-winning independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad

Peace on silver jubilee remains elusive for hill people

SALEEM SAMAD

People of the hill forest, an abode of the Mongoloid ethnic Adivasis refuse to celebrate the historic signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord on December 2, which brought to an end a protracted autonomy-seeking insurgency for more than two decades.
However, the government is officially celebrating the silver jubilee of the Peace Accord. The government-sponsored supplements in mainstream newspapers failed to mention the implementation of the accord and instead runs a list of physical developments including how many solar-panel sets were distributed, roads and bridges were built and blah, blah.
On the other hand, the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) in a paid supplement in Dainik Samakal stated that in 25 years the peace accord has not been fully implemented, which remains a bone of contention among the ethnic communities in the hills.
Out of 72 provisions of the accord, only 25 provisions and 18 clauses have been partially implemented, said PCJSS supremo Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma a.k.a. Shantu Larma on the occasion of the 25th anniversary at Liberation War Museum auditorium which was not a surprise for many.
On the eve of the accord’s silver jubilee, a full-fledged Hill District Council in Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban has not been formed through direct elections. The interim Hill District Councils were formed with hand-picked ruling party members, mostly Bangalee and a few Adivasis. This undemocratic and partisan path gives a wrong message to the hill people of a lack of political commitment.
The government remains silent when the implementation of the fundamental provisions of the accord was raised, which caused further complications.
Despite all odds, Shantu Larma seems hopeful that the accord will surely see the light of day before the ‘golden jubilee’ celebration. Then only the hill people will be able to celebrate the accord, he quipped.
Unless the peace accord, signed on 2 December 1997 during the first tenure of Sheikh Hasina’s government (1996-2001), peace will remain elusive for the Adivasis of the picturesque hills.
In the last quarter century, the CHT Peace Accord Implementation Committee has held its 6th meeting recently. This also gives an impression of the seriousness of the government’s will.
On the other side, the CHT Land Commission formed under the provision of the CHT Accord has not progressed at all.
Nevertheless, Shantu Larma seems to have faith in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who he said has the sincere political will to get the peace deal signed and a bill passed in the parliament.
He argued that the responsibility to implement the peace accord lies with the state and nobody else, not PCJSS.
A road map to implement the accord to achieve peace was also agreed upon with the government. It was not understood what hindered the delay in the implementation of the accord.
The peace process for a solution with the government’s liaison committee had been initiated during the military junta of General H M Ershad. Later when Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came to power, the dialogue with the government continued and the end result was zero.
Both regimes experienced hiccups as the liaison committees could not envisage a political solution to the crisis.
When Sheikh Hasina came to power in 1996, a year later a rapid series of dialogues resulted in the CHT Peace Accord after the government recognised the crisis as a political problem.
The CHT Peace Accord was written with the supreme sacrifice of the blood of the Adivasis and the political vision of the Awami League government.
“We are continuing the dialogue to achieve peace,” PCJSS supremo said.
In frustration, Shantu Larma remarked that: “It does not take 25 years to implement a peace accord.”
Most people in Bangladesh, especially those visiting the hill forests as a tourist are not aware that martial law has long gone away with the fall of a dictator in 1990, a de facto military rule continues, and ‘Operation Uttaran’ has not been withdrawn, even though it was agreed in the accord to stop targeting the hill people.
The military dictator General Ziaur Rahman deliberately wanted to Islamise CHT and pushed tens of thousands of landless Bangalee Muslim settlers from the floodplains.
Presently, the authorities are systematically making efforts to “Bangalise” the region – further marginalising the Adivasis.
For the last 25 years, the Adivasi youths and student leaders launched a violent movement to pressure the government to realise the accord’s implementation but were frustrated.
The Adivasis will continue to suffer in pain and agony for non-compliance with the much talked about peace accord with the autonomy-seeking armed ethnic minorities of the CHT.

First published in The News Times, December 3, 2022
Saleem Samad, is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at <saleemsamad@hotmail.com>; Twitter @saleemsamad