Speakers at a national convention yesterday urged the government to introduce quota system for the urdu-speaking people like other minorities of the country.
They made the call at the convention on Social inclusion of Urdu-speaking camp-based Bangladeshis organised by Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) and representatives from Urdu-speaking community, at RC Majumdar Auditorium of Dhaka University.
They also demanded ensuring fundamental rights, including education, health and habitat, for the Urdu-speaking minorities.
The Urdu-speaking people who come from different camps of the country said though the government has given voting rights and national ID cards but they are still out from the fundamental rights for which they have been passing their days under sub-human condition in 116 shelter camps in the country.
The camps, known as "Bihari camp" or "refugee camp" were constructed after the liberation war for stranded Pakistanis. Now there are around 1.60 lakh Urdu-speaking people in the country.
Stressing the movement to get anything, Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman said if anybody does not want anything he will not get it.
Dr Shahdeen Malik said it the time to place demand for quota system for the Urdu- speaking people of the country.
"Though we wear Benarashi shari made by Urdu-speaking people but we do not think about their contribution," said Rasheda K Chowdhury, former adviser to a caretaker government.
Poet Asad Chowdhury, said there were around five Urdu-speaking poets who supported the language movement of 1952 but it was not written anywhere in the country.
Mohammad Hasan, a representative of the Urdu-speaking community, said though there are 116 camps for the Urdu-speaking people in the country but the government is giving attention only to the Geneva comp.
Md Sazid Hossain, a youth of the community, said they do not have any privacy as they have to share a room with grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, son and daughter.
Hannah Sholder, who carried out a research on two camps of the community, said there is only one toilet for every 200 residents in Geneva Camp in the city's Mohammadpur.
CR Abrar of RMMRU said though Urdu-speaking people have got their citizenship but they fear about eviction from their places.
Source : The Daily Star
