BLAST supports access to justice for indigenous peoples/Adivasis in both the plains and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In the plains, BLAST has provided legal aid to Adivasi individuals and communities by taking up cases involving the right to property, expropriation of land through the arbitrary application of the Vested Property Act, and evictions of landless people, as well as the issue of distribution of khas land. It has also taken up cases of arbitrary arrest or custodial ill-treatment, as well as extra-judicial executions of Adivasi activists.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is composed of three districts whose population has historically been majority indigenous. Land seizure has been a significant problem in the CHT districts. BLAST challenged one such seizure on behalf of ten indigenous persons. BLAST argued that Section 3 of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Land Acquisition) Regulation, 1958, violates Articles 7 and 42 of the Constitution inasmuch as it vests arbitrary power to the Deputy Commissioner. The High Court issued a Rule Nisi on 19.05.2005 in each of the ten cases directing the respondents to show cause as to why Section 3 of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Land Acquisition) Regulation, 1958 should not be declared ultra vires to the Constitution and also stayed the operation of the notice till disposal of the Rule.
BLAST has also challenged the lack of separation of executive and judiciary in the CHT districts. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation Amendment Act, 2003 provided for the establishment of courts in the CHT districts, but it was not implemented until BLAST obtained a judgment from the High Court ordering implementation. BLAST continues to monitor the progress in the administration of justice for indigenous and non-indigenous persons alike in the CHT districts and advocate for improving the situation to better enforce the rights of indigenous persons.
Case Study
- RIGHTS OF ADIBASHIS
Following an RTI application by BLAST, the Bangladesh Public Service Commission was directed by the Information Commission to provide information regarding the recruitment process of Assistant Thana Education Officers, including ethnic minority quotas.
- PROTECTING LAND RIGHTS
BLAST completed a study on the application of Section 97 of the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act 1950, which regulates the sale and purchase of land, and contains measures that, if activated, would protect plains Adibashis from dispossession. It then framed and presented recommendations to the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs on how to reactivate institutional structures to ensure effective application of the law to protect vulnerable communities from the loss of their property rights. BLAST organized a Roundtable Discussion in March on the issue and sent a memorandum to the Ministry of Law in this regard.