National PPLA Event brings Indigenous Peoples’ Land Rights into the Spotlight
On the 12th August 2022, PPLA held a national event in Dhaka focusing on the implications of project research findings for the Indigenous Peoples’ of the Bangladesh plains districts. Once again with the interpretation support of PPLA researcher Parag Ritchil, Dr Oliver Scanlan from Center for Sustainable Development (CSD), University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), presented key research findings from the project. In line with the feedback from the regional event in Mymensingh, findings were couched in less abstract and academic terms, focusing on more concrete reportage of what the research team found. PPLA researcher Nasrin Siraj then moderated a panel discussion of the findings where leading Indigenous civil society figures responded to the findings.
Sanjeeb Drong, General Secretary of the national advocacy platform Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples’ Forum, said that it would be good for the findings to be sent to policy makers in a report. He highlighted how the findings demonstrate the importance of implementing a Land Commission for the Indigenous Peoples in the plains of Bangladesh as soon as possible, which the Government has promised in previous election manifestos. He said it was crucial the Land Commission is able to finish its work before any national digital land survey begins. He also observed that a lack of awareness about land rights and land administration among indigenous people remains a major problem, with only a small portion of indigneous people having experience of visiting local land offices, compounding their vulnerability to land grabs.
Helena Talang, Project Co-ordinator at the national Indigenous human rights organisation Kapaeeng Foundation, focused on the situation of the Khasis in Sylhet division, who generally do not have documented land rights. They have been under pressure for many years from “social forestry” schemes, which they have been able to resist through a concerted movement. Recently, however, there has been the issue of the lease of “forest land” for the expansion of the Kedarpur tea gardens on the land of Jhimai Punji (village). In a successful application to the High Court for this lease, the presence of Indigenous people was completely omitted, with the area described as forest land. As a result the local community are now deeply concerned that their ancestral land will be occupied by the tea company.
Indigenous activist Promila Rakhaine observed that in her home region of Patuakhali, having legal documents has not been sufficient to safeguard ancestral lands. Land grabbers have in the past been able to use a combination of false documents, harassing legal cases and armed force to take lands from the Rakhaine people, leading to a situation where they have become impoverished. Additional legal safeguards are needed within the overall land administration system in order to stop this occurring.
Yiyi Prue, advocate Dhaka Judge Court and climate justice advocate, emphasised the need for education of Indigenous youth in order to ensure the struggle for Indigenous Peoples’ rights continues. She also underscored the particular vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples to the effects of climate change in Bangladesh, and called for more effective networking with like-minded organisations both locally and globally in order to secure redress.
Following the panel discussion and lunch, participants divided into breakout groups along regional lines: North Bengal, Greater Mymensingh, Sylhet and Patuakhali – Barguna. They then presented specific land-related problems that Indigenous communities of each region are facing in plenary. Such problems were diverse, with the sources of dispossession including direct physical displacement, the use of false cases and documents, and exclusionary conservation practices. In addition, concern was expressed from several regions regarding projects funded by multilateral and bilateral donors, including the Sustainable Forest and Livelihoods (SUFAL) project supported by the World Bank.