The Daily Star, Vol. 4 Num 336
Tue. May 11, 2004
Staff Correspondent
Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, president of Bangladesh Forum for
Indigenous People, could not leave for the USA as the government has
barred him from leaving the country.
He failed to join the third session of United Nations Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) conference scheduled for May 10-21at the UN
headquarters in New York because of a restriction slapped on him by
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
"The PM did not allow me to go there. I don't want to make any comment
on it right now," Larma, also chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts
Regional Council (CHTRC), told The Daily Star last evening.
The UNPFII secretariat invited him to attend the international
conference, which is likely to discuss problems related to indigenous
people.
After the PM restricted Larma's trip abroad, representatives of donor
agencies at Bangladesh Development Forum's meeting last Sunday asked the
government the reason behind the ban. No government response on the
issue was available.
On May 5, the secretary of CHT affairs ministry acknowledged Larma, who
requires PM's autho-risation to fly abroad, was denied the privilege.
The secretary said the PM does not want any VIP or MP go out of the
country now, sources said.
In a statement, Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, a forum of
indigenous people, condemned the government's refusal to allow Larma to
join the UNPFII conference in the US.
The government has violated fundamental rights granted by the
constitution and also denied the right of a national leader with ethnic
background to attend a UN conference, it added.
The statement also criticised the government for denying a citizen's
rights to go abroad.