Tribal villagers in Bangladesh face trouble from eco-tourism
Thousands of tribal people of Garo ethnicity are constantly opposing the government decision to expel them from their natural habitat in a forest covered area located in northeast Bangladesh. The region often witnesses violence from the forest guards and police.
Villagers in Dokhla Amtali explained recently that on July 7th, forest guards had threatened to kill them, if in their fields they try to grow paddy in Madhupur, Tangail district.
On social media, a video of the argument between the guards and the locals went viral. There, we saw how armed forest officials are stopping the villagers from accessing their fields. These fields the villagers have claimed belonged to their ancestors.
Continually, the forest guards stated that they won’t let anyone from the village to enter without producing valid land documents. If they don’t obey the orders, at one point, an official even threatened to fire on villagers.
The villagers shouted back by saying that the guards can shoot, if they dare, as they are not frightened to protect their right to the land. Almost, 25,000 Garos who are majorly Christians, explain that their suffering started 60 years back when the government announced Madhupur forest a protected zone. This decision of the government made them landless and unlawful occupants of their ancestral land.
By farming, maximum Garos sustain their life and banning cultivation is compelling them to die from lack of food, says, a Garo member of St. Paul’s Catholic Church.
