Washington: Several indigenous Catholic and tribal leaders in central Bangladesh have warned the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government that failure to withdraw a disputed forest development project could trigger a stronger protest movement.
The Garo and Koch Indigenous peoples claim that the Madhupur forest project in Tangail district, which includes plans to build an artificial lake and an eco-park, is being used to evict them from ancestral lands they have inhabited for generations, a report said.
According to a report in American media outlet 'Eternal Word Television Network' (EWTN), Toni Chiran, President of the Bangladesh Indigenous Youth Forum, addressed a protest rally on March 6 in Madhupur, attended by hundreds of indigenous students and community members opposing the project. He warned that the construction of the artificial lake and eco-park would deprive indigenous people of their agricultural land, destroy natural forest and leave the Garo and other indigenous communities without means to sustain their way of life. (IANS)
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