The leaders made the demand at an advocacy meeting, titled “Ethnic and Dalit communities’ rights and inclusion in government services”, arranged by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) at its conference room in Dhaka. Leaders of the minority communities asked the government to enact laws to protect their rights. They placed a 13-point demand at the meeting, which includes a separate loan law, incorporating communities that were previously excluded from the ethnic communities list, and ensuring reserved seats in the parliament for ethnic community members. Bangladesh Adivasi Forum General Secretary Sanjeeb Drong said: “The government is violating the constitution by depriving Dalit and ethnic communities of their rights.”Regarding the government's treatment of ethnic minorities, he claimed that they are behaving like colonial rulers. Rabindranath Soren, president of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, said Dalit and ethnic communities are in danger and almost 75% of their properties has been grabbed.

Source: Dhaka Tribune May 09, 2019 15:45 UTC