A report from Moulvibazar says that part of a Khasia village has been grabbed
by a group of people led allegedly by a ruling party activist. The attackers
also abducted three members of the community in their bid to establish control
over the land.
The news is extremely disquieting since the attack is on the ancestral home and habitat of a segment of indigenous people. The community complains that the number of Khasia villages has come down to 90 from 120 in the pre-independence days. So they have already lost a lot of ground, but civilised conduct on the part of the majority could still allow the indigenous people to live in peace. They actually give us the opportunity to prove our bona fides in terms of upholding their rights both in theory and in practice.
The Moulvibazar incident could be interpreted as a failure on the part of the local administration to protect the interest of the Khasia community. They apparently went slow in handling the matter. And this might be construed as an attempt to cast aside the grievances of a backward and vulnerable community, particularly when a ruling party activist is reported to have masterminded the whole operation.
Nobody has the right to alienate a group of people from its own land. The gravity of the crime can be gauged easily if it is measured by the universally accepted yardstick of human rights. These people and their lifestyle add to the cultural and linguistic diversity of society and, as such, it must be seen that their rights are not trampled.
The government should look into the matter and bring the culprits, who are
known people, to justice. The local administration, for its part, should go
beyond saying that it was not aware of such gross infringement on the rights
of some citizens. They must act.