A daylong Santal women’s and traditional archery competitions, cultural festivals and discussion meetings were held on the ground of Bagdafarm at Joypurarea underGobindaganjupazila in the district on Saturday.
JanoUddyog, a social platform of the district, arranged the festival to give the indigenouswomen inspiration for their refreshment.
Presided over by convener of Adibashi-BangaliSanghatiParishad and also general secretary of District Bar Association Adv. Sirajul Islam the inaugural session was also addressed among others by distinguished sports organizer Waziur Rahman Raphel, president of SahebganjBagdafarm Bhumi UddharSangram Committee PhilimonBaske, central member secretary of JanoUddyogTarique Hossain Mithul, member secretary of JanoUddyogProbirChakrabartee, human rights workers Golam Rabbani Musa and Anjali Rani Debi, indigenous female leader Pricilla Murmu and members of JanoUddyogZulficar Ahmed Golap, Mahendranath Sen, Solaiman Ahmed, Nazrul Islam, Sakawat Hossain and LataMondal.
The speakers in their speeches said the tribals of the plain land are on the verge of extinction. Not only the tribals are disappearing day by day but also their culture is also disappearing gradually.
Most of the tribalsare landless and they have no land, theyalsosaid. Just as Pakistanis hated us before 1971, we now hating thetribals, they added.
In this context, they demanded of the government to form Adibashi Ministry In a bid to protect the language and culture of the Adivasi in the days to come, they concluded.
A large number of Adibashi people, adolescents, students, and teachers took part in the programmes.