http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/04/08/d40408012626.htm
The Daily Star, Vol. 4 Num 307
Thu. April 08, 2004
Staff Correspondent
Too poor to afford this year's Baisabi celebrations, the indigenous
internal refugees of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have asked Prime
Minister Khaleda Zia to double their yearly ration.
On March 21, Chittagong Hill Tracts Repatriated Jumma Refugees Welfare
Association sent an application to the prime minister through the deputy
commissioner of Khagrachhari requesting her to allocate six more months
of food grain for them. Otherwise it would be impossible for them to
celebrate Baisabi, the application said.
Baisabi, the biggest festival of the hill people, begins April 12.
Nearly 65,000 indigenous people were repatriated from refugee camps of
India's Tripura after signing of the CHT peace treaty in 1997.
These refugees have to make do with only six months of ration every year
after the government withdrew their yearly ration aid of 15,000 metric
tons of food grains from last year's budget and instead sanctioned half
of that amount from the CHT emergency fund.
Moni Swapan Dewan, deputy minister for CHT affairs, said the emergency
fund is all but exhausted already.
"The small amount of food grain that still remains in the fund is for
Jumma farmers who face a famine-like situation after April. So I could
not give any fund for Baisabi celebrations," the deputy minister said.
Ministry sources said 7,700 metric tons of food grains have been
distributed already, leaving only 65 metric tons and Tk 2,20,000 in the
emergency fund.