On 19 June 2015, 10 women and children were injured in a gang attack in Reservepara Tila of Madhyam Talbaria village, under Mirsharai upazila of Chittagong district. We have learnt that, on that day around 11:00 am, a gang of about 10-11 people came to Nirupati’s land and cut down hundreds of trees. She went to the land with some of her neighbours. The intruders beat her and others as they attempted to obstruct the cutting down of the trees. The injured are Nirupati Tripura (45), Puspamala Tripura (34), Sandhya rani Tripura (50), Chandrabati Tripura (32), Nabati Tripura (35) and others. At that time they also attempted to rape Nirupati Tripura. Nirupati Tripura said she has been living in that area for a long time. She got the lease of about one acre of land from the Forest Department nearby to her house, and she has been cultivating the land for roughly fifteen years. She had planted papaya and banana trees. But there have been repeated attempts to grab her land, with attackers cutting down her trees and starting to cultivate the soil. The alleged perpetrators are Md. Mamun (18), son of Md. Babul Sawodagor, and Md. Tushar (18), son of Md. Abul Kashem; Md. Sohag, son of Md. Babul Sawodagor, Saiful Islam (22), son of the late Md. Nuna Islam, Alauddin (19), with no known father, and Kabir Ahmed (20), son of late Md. Jamshed Ali at el. On that day, Nirupati Tripura called the Chairman of the local Union Parishad (UP), Jafar Uddin Ahmed Choudhury, freedom fighter and president of Mirsharai Union branch, about this matter. But he refused to do anything. The day after the incident, on 20 June, she went to him again. He suggested that she complain to the police station. On 21 June, she went to the police station to file a complaint, but the duty officer refused to take the case. He suggested that she resolve the case locally, and sent her to the forest department officer. The forest department officer also refused to do anything. He talked with the local UP chairman, and suggested that she go to the chairman. Later she went several times to the local UP chairman regarding this issue, but no initiative was taken by him. It has bee alleged that the Chairman has remained silent due to the attackers' involvement with the politics of the Awami League. It is reported that Jafar Uddin Ahmed Choudhury threatened Nirupati’s son Ananda Tripura with death. Now Nirupati Tripura and her family are living under constant fear of attack. Locals said that even after the incident, the perpetrators have remained nearby the Tripura village. No case has been filed yet, but Tripura Indigenous families continue to live in fear.

Photo credit: jankie @Flickr