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Video on Bangladeshi Khasi and Garo Peoples Now on YouTube April 12th, 2011

The Oblate JPIC office is excited to introduce the video, “Behind the Green,” to the Missionary Oblates JPIC YouTube Channel.

The film “Behind the Green” (Parts 1-3) is based on the historic struggle of the Khasi and Garo peoples for protection of their ancestral homeland in Bangladesh in the face of Government plans to establish an Eco-park in the Moulvibazar district. The eco-park would take up more than 1500 acres of the indigenous peoples’ land for tourism.

The films also features Fr. Joseph Gomes OMI, a missionary catholic priest working amongst the Garo and Khasi people in Bangladesh.

View the “Behind the Green” video at: http://www.youtube.com/user/OMIJPIC

Please bookmark this JPIC Youtube Channel website and check it frequently as it will be updated with stories and actions from Oblates in ministry. Spread the word!!

Protection of Khasi Villages Overturned by Court Order March 19th, 2010

A January victory by the Khasi people in stopping logging on their lands has been overturned by a High Court decision issued in late February. Four indigenous villages in Bangladesh, with their 500 Khasi residents, will be destroyed if logging by a local tea estate owner is allowed to continue.

An Oblate priest, Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI, along with other colleagues from the environmental community have been working with the Khasi people to protect the forest and their villages. We urge all parties in a position to do so, to raise serious concerns with the Government of Bangladesh regarding this situation.

Click here to read more »

Victory after Long Fight to Save Bangladeshi Indigenous Villages and Forest January 20th, 2010

The indigenous Khasi people of Bangladesh have won a significant victory after a long struggle to protect the forest on which they depend for their survival. The indigenous community organized against rampant logging from a local tea estate owner who had secured permission to log the forest allegedly through his political connections. Thousands of trees and many Khasi villages will be saved as a result.

The Oblates have been supportive of the efforts to protect the forest, with Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI working closely with the Khasi people. APRA (Adibasi Poribesh Roskhya Andolon or Save Indigenous Environment Movement) of BAPA (Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon or Bangladesh Environment Movement). Fr. Gomes was joined by Sharif Jamil, National Coordinator, APRA, Joint Secretary, BAPA in successfully arguing on behalf of the Khasi people before a government panel charged with investigating the logging controversy.

Read the full account…

Khasi People Continue to Protest Destruction of their Forest May 20th, 2009

The Khasi people of Sylhet, supported by the Oblates there, have been fighting the cutting of the forest on which the people depend for their living. These efforts are also critically important for protecting area ecosystems.

On May 9th, the Khasi people staged a large public gathering to protest the continued logging as well as tea plantation expansion plans by a powerful landowner.

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Tea Estate Expansion Threatens Bangladeshi Khasi People and Forest March 15th, 2009

In early January 2009, the Zhimai Tea Estate Authority cut-down a number of trees in the Pan-zoom of Zhimai. Thousands of trees have been demarcated to be felled and construction of labor-quarters has begun in an expansion of the tea garden. This activity threatens displacement of the indigenous Khasi people of Zhimai Punji, and directly interferes with their livelihood, which depends on the betel plant which grows on tall trees. Apart from the destruction of the land & livelihood of the Khasi, the tree felling severely affects the bio-diversity, and overall environment of the hills & forest of Sylhet Division, Bangladesh.

Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI has been working with the Khasi people and APRA (Adibashi Poribesh Roskhya Andolon), the movement administered by BAPA, a national Bangladeshi environmental organization, for the protection & conservation of Bangladeshi forests.

Read report on the forest destruction (Download PDF)

Khasis Demand a Ban on Logging in Northeast Bangladesh November 17th, 2008

A public gathering demanding a “Ban on Cutting Trees in Khasia Punji & Hilly Forest” was organized by APRA, BAPA on November 15 in the school grounds of Aliachhara Punji, Bahubal, Habiganj. Around four thousand environmentalists, indigenous people, and media persons from different parts of Sylhet Division participated in the event.

Click here to read more »

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