Mros prefer death to development in Bandarban

Ethnic minority Mro protesters on Tuesday urged the government to rather kill them than allowing a five-star hotel and amusement park to be built after evicting them from Naitong hill in Bandarban.

‘It is far better the government kill us all than driving us away from our home, taking away our source of livelihood and life,’ said Men Ching Mro, who along with 69 others came from the Naitong hill to protest against their potential eviction.

Men was speaking at a solidarity rally organised under the banner of ‘Movement to protect Mro land in Chimbuk pahar’ at Shahbagh on Tuesday.

He said that they faced water crisis half the year because the authorities used the water from the fountains to feed tourists in Nilgiri, about 3kms from where the five-star hotel and amusement park was planned.

Former National Human Rights Commission member Nirupa Dewan said that the life and livelihood of Mros were under threat.

Communist Party of Bangladesh leader Ruhin Hossain Prince requested the government to decide by March 26 that the five-star hotel would not be built there.

‘We would go for tougher movement if we do not get a decision by the time,’ he said.

On December 12, 2020, Chittagong Hill Tracts Citizens’ Committee said at a press conference that the construction of the hotel would affect the ecology of the area while displacing six Mro villages.

The committee also said that the hotel and amusement park would take away the water bodies, land and orchards of Mros living in 116 other villages.