Bangladesh
Two brothers killed themselves after they were denied water for irrigation of their rice field
Community leaders visit family members of two ethnic farmers who committed suicide after they were denied water for irrigation. (Photo supplied)
Activists in Bangladesh have sought a probe into discrimination against ethnic minorities after two tribal people committed suicide after allegedly being denied water for irrigation.
Ethnic Santal cousins Obhinath Marnady, 36, and Robi Marandy, 26, consumed poison together on March 23 as the maturing paddy crop began to dry up on their tiny 1,600-square-meter farm in Rajshahi district in northern Bangladesh.
Obhinath, a Hindu father of two, died on the same night. Robi, a member of the Protestant Church of Bangladesh, died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital on March 25 night.
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The two suicides are “a disgrace for the nation” as its shows the relentless discrimination tribal people are facing in several parts of the country, Nakul Pahan, president of Bangladesh Indigenous Students Council, told UCA News.
“Ethnic minorities face various forms of discrimination. We want an answer from the government on why our brothers committed suicide. The government’s silence would mean we can be deprived of our due rights and can die, but no one cares. This is intolerable and we want to see the situation change.”
Local lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badsha, convener of the Parliamentary Caucus on Indigenous Peoples and general secretary of the Workers Party of Bangladesh, condemned the discrimination toward ethnic minorities.
“They became so depressed … They did not get water while other non-tribal people faced no problems”
Badsha told the media that ethnic minorities had been treated unfairly in the distribution of water in several areas for years.
He also called for a high-level inquiry into the suicides by the state-run National Human Rights Commission.
Obhinath’s widow Rozina Hembrom said the men took poison because an employee of the state-run Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) refused to release water to their paddy field for more than a week, demanding a hefty bribe.
“We survive by cultivating land of other people on a crop-sharing basis,” she told UCA News. Crop failure meant added debt and a waste of a season’s work, she added.
“They became so depressed” because others in the area were getting water, she said, hinting at the discrimination ethnic minorities face in the area. “They did not get water while other non-tribal people faced no problems,” she said.
The BMDA began supplying irrigation water in northern districts of Bangladesh at a concessional rate to help irrigate areas facing a water scarcity.
“I want justice and compensation for my two children. They are only 10 and six years old”
However, local people allege government workers have demanded bribes for releasing water, particularly from tribal people.
Hembrom has filed a police case against deep tube well operator Sakhawat Hossain, accusing him of inciting suicide.
“I want justice and compensation for my two children. They are only 10 and six years old,” she said, adding that her family depended on her husband’s income.
Police officer Kamrul Islam, in charge of Godagari Police station which covers the area, said police are “trying to arrest the accused.”
About 98 percent of Bangladesh’s population are Bengali-speaking people, and 90 percent of them are Muslims, according to the 2011 national census. Ethnic minorities form about 1.8 percent or 1.6 million, belonging to more than 45 ethnic groups. Indigenous leaders say the actual figure of ethnic minorities is around three million.
Most people in ethnic communities are Hindus and Buddhists but some are Christians.
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