Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Of course it would make a difference. It would be more powerful and forceful if parliamentarians could raise this issue in the House of Commons. Any kind of discussions would very greatly help. That's my view. Once it became known, too, they would think, “Well, we can't keep th

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In 2011 I sent a memorandum to the Bangladesh prime minister on the constitutional amendment work that was going on. It was the 16th amendment to the constitution of Bangladesh. We requested or appealed that indigenous people, their identity as indigenous people, should be enshri

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, sir. According to my understanding, there is of course a lot of money channelled through CIDA to Bangladesh. I don't have any figures for how much, or for how much is invested, or for how much aid money goes to the Chittagong Hills. I don't have any figures because I

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Concerning minorities in general, if you look at the figures in 1947 when India was divided into Pakistan and India, you see that a significant number, about 32%, of minorities were Hindus and others. Right now, that is down to almost 8%. The figure speaks for itself in regard to

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, they manage everything.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  May I say something?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In terms of our indigenous people or religious minorities, I think both parties have said that there is no difference between them. My perception is that, in fact, Bangladesh is a kind of failed state. What I'm saying here is that the political parties, one after another, have co

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's not exactly for minerals or any other cases; I think the army has a corporate interest. They have a very big business. I have all the documents and the research paper that came out. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts there are 60 people per one army personnel. In any other part o

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, I got refugee status in 1984.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Chairperson. Honourable Chair of the subcommittee, vice-chairs, members of the committee, and all the people who are present here, I will be very brief. I also submitted my brief, three or four days ago, and I hope you already have a copy. First of all, briefly, I w