Citizens’ group demands punishment of Longadu ‘attackers’

A platform of concerned citizens today voiced their protest against Friday’s series of arson attacks and vandalism at three villages of indigenous Chakma community in Longadu upazila of Rangamati and demanded exemplary punishment of the perpetrators.

They demanded compensation for the victims and ensuring security of their lives, investigation into the role of the on-duty law enforcers during the synchronised attacks and why they failed to thwart the attacks.

They also sought a roadmap on the proper and quick implementation of Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord.

Rights activist Khushi Kabir said one has to cross a number of security hurdles in order to enter that region. How could those four villages be burned amid such high security, she questioned.

“What were the law enforcers doing? Why didn’t they stop it? This should be investigated and we want replies to these questions,” she said.

Prof Mesbah Kamal, general secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Odhikar Andolan, said the process of eliminating indigenous people from their ancestral land begun since the independence. The process has been enforced in different phases since then and these attacks are a continuation of that process, he said.

He demanded immediate implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord signed in 1997.

Theatre personality Mamunur Rashid, among others, also spoke at the rally.

Later, they marched through the Dhaka University campus.

On Friday, Bangalee settlers unleashed a series of arson attacks on the Chakma community over the death of a local Jubo League leader, according to police and victims. Later, police arrested seven persons in connection with the mayhem.

Indigenous people claimed over 200 homes and shops were vandalised and burned to ashes after they were looted, although an official of Longadu upazila put the figure at 110.