A Garo youth from Bangladesh has been selected to represent the Bangladesh Indigenous Youth Forum at the virtual conference of Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), a subsidiary body of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Toni Ch Sangma is from an indigenous community of Mandi, also known as Garo or A’chik from A’bima (hill region) will raise the issues of the deprived indigenous communities at the conference from July 12 to 16.
The conference is held annually and only few selected speakers can attend to raise human rights issues of the indigenous people.
For many decades some regions of the indigenous communities in Bangladesh have been voiceless and submissive in context to the Human Rights violation. Dominance by leftists, few government authorities and companies for land acquisition has been a frequent agenda for debate in the region.
“I will be focusing on overall human rights situation of the indigenous people of our country,” Sangma said speaking to Highland Post.
Stating that the Garos are in constant threat of eviction from their own ancestral land and territories in A.bima due to eco-tourism, eco-park projects, reserve forest, firing range he said, “The forests and jungle is our sacred space out of which we procure medicinal herbs and food. It is a part of our heritage and culture and our daily livelihood that we dearly depend upon. However alarmingly, it is disheartening to see our vegetations being chopped and poor nature intentionally destroyed by some unknown miscreants.”
He said the Khasi and Garo communities living in Sylhet area are also in threat of eviction in the name of tea garden extension.
Sangma further said that he will also raise issues of adolescent girls and women being sexually harassed, kidnapped, raped and murdered in some cases.
