A decision has been taken to withdraw 88 cases filed against ethnic minorities and local residents in the Madhupur range under the Tangail Forest Division, with the remaining 48 cases to be withdrawn next year under specific conditions.
The decision was finalised on Thursday at an inter-ministerial meeting held at the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, chaired by ministry Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan.
The meeting reviewed all 136 cases filed against 503 individuals from both ethnic minority communities and local populations living in the Madhupur forest area.
The meeting also decided to form four-member committees in each of the ten forest beats under four forest ranges in Madhupur.
Each committee will be headed by the respective beat officers. Each of these committees will include two members from ethnic minority communities and two from local co-management committees. Their role will be to reduce forest-related offences and help resolve disputes.
The Forest Department has additionally been directed to ensure grazing rights, access to water and land-use facilities for ethnic minority communities residing in the Madhupur forest.
Present at the meeting were Environment, Forest and Climate Change Secretary Dr Farhina Ahmed, Additional Secretary (Environment) Dr Fahmida Khanom, Chief Conservator of Forests Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury, representatives from the Ministries of Law, Land and the Forest Department, and the president of the Joyenshahi Adivasi Development Council, Madhupur.
The decision to withdraw the cases follows recommendations from an eight-member committee chaired by the ministry’s Additional Secretary (Development).
Of the 503 accused individuals named across the 136 cases, 315 are from ethnic minority communities and 188 are local residents.
