Reeling from shock:Daily Star

Adivasis of Suridaspara in Naniarchar upazila of Rangamati form a human chain yesterday protesting the Bangalee settlers' attack on them. Photo: Star The victims of Tuesday's attack on the indigenous settlements in Rangamati have refused to accept relief and cash assistance offered by the government. Rather, they want their houses and shops, torched and vandalised in the attack, rebuilt first and
the assurance that no such attack would happen again. This they said when officials of the local administration and Rangamati District Council yesterday went to Suridaspara, one of the three affected villages, to distribute relief materials, including corrugated iron sheets and blankets, and cash, according to Promodh Khisha, chairman of Burighat union parishad. Later, the relief materials were taken back. The indigenous people told the local administration officials of their fear of further attacks and sought protection. The local administration would start rebuilding 15 of the damaged houses today, said Rangamati Deputy Commissioner Mostofa Kamal. On Tuesday morning, some 400-500 people, allegedly Bangalee settlers, from Bogachhari area swooped on three villages -- Suridaspara, Camppara and Amtola – near the Rangamati-Khagrachhari road and burned down several houses and shops of the indigenous people. Advertisement They also vandalised Karuna Bihar Buddhist Temple and took away seven bronze idols, the victims alleged. The police believe the attack was in retaliation for the destruction of around 4.5 lakh pineapple and 20,000 teak saplings, planted by Bangalee settlers, on Monday night. The settlers blamed this on the indigenous communities. The indigenous people, however, claimed the settlers had planted the saplings on the land belonging to them. The local administration yesterday confirmed that 54 houses and seven shops had been torched during the attack. However, they could not ascertain how many houses had been vandalised and looted and the financial estimate of the damage. A sub-committee will estimate the loss, said Naniarchar Upazila Parishad Chairman Shaktiman Chakma, who has been made the chief of the 12-member committee formed following the incident. Meanwhile, the indigenous communities formed human chains at different points of Rangamati-Khagrachhari road between 10:00am and 12:30pm, demanding immediate arrest of the attackers. They also asked for compensation for the victims, recovery of the allegedly looted idols and an end to the grabbing of their land. Activists of the United People's Democratic Front blocked the Rangamati-Khagrachhari road for several hours. Members of the Rangamati district unit of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS-Santu Larma faction) also marched in procession and held a rally in front of the deputy commissioner's office. At the rally, they alleged that communal attacks were being carried out on the indigenous people with a view to driving them out of the country. Meanwhile, rights body Ain o Salish Kendra in a statement yesterday condemned the attack and demanded an investigation. Parbatya Chattagram Pahari Chhatra Parishad and Hill Women's Federation staged a protest rally at the base of Raju Memorial Sculpture on Dhaka University campus yesterday.