Ethnic groups from across Bangladesh came up at the Central Shaheed Minar with a theme "Our Land Our Life", turning their centrepiece event into a rallying point for their right to land.

Dressed in ethnic clothes, people from Chakma, Marma, Garo, Khashia, Tripura and Santal communities sang and danced as part of a daylong cultural programme.

They demanded that the government scrap an eco-park project, as they see it as a new threat to their movement and access to land and forest resources -- a contention that turned explosive in Modhupur, about 100km north of Dhaka, on January 3 killing Garo youth Piren Slan.

Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, president of the Indigenous Peoples Forum, called on the government to withdraw army camps from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) without delay and said: "The army is trampling the rights of indigenous people in the CHT."

"The Awami League government did not implement the CHT peace accord in about four years in office after signing it. It could have implemented the agreement at the time," he said.

"Is there any part in Bangladesh where the army dominates other people? If the government doesn't respond positively, we have to realise our demands anyway," Larma said, indicating a hard line on the issue.

Larma, also president of Parbattya Chattagram Janasanghati Samity, also criticised the BNP-led coalition government for not implementing the CHT peace accord.

"The extreme nationalist government has a stubborn attitude towards the life and livelihood of ethnic groups. The indigenous people suffer because of the outlook of the government. Our achievement in a decade is nothing to mention."

Deputy Minister of CHT Affairs Mani Swapan Dewan said the state has to show respect to the cultural diversity of Bangladesh to maintain democratic norms.

Speaking at the discussion as the chief guest, Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain said the indigenous people have to unite to achieve their rights, adding they also struggled for the country.

United Nations Development Programme Resident Coordinator Jorgen Lissner said education for indigenous people is central to achieving their rights and emphasised their land has to be protected by the constitution and laws.

Mesbah Kamal, history professor of Dhaka University, said that 99 percent of the indigenous people in the north are day-workers as they were displaced and the government does not acknowledge the traditional ownership of their ancestral land.

He alleged local influential people have long been suppressing them -- a cruel trend that scarred the CHT as well.

"The government has been grabbing their land by naming it khash land, while the forest department declared reserve forests without planning. As many as 20,000 indigenous people were displaced by the eco-park. It is totally illegal, as the 1900 regulation of British period was not yet withdrawn and there is no provision of entry for Bangalees," he added.

Indigenous Peoples' Day has been observed in 70 countries since 1995 to highlight that 45 ethnic groups with 25 lakh indigenous people in Bangladesh are left out of their rights.

First Secretary of the Danish Embassy in Bangladesh Henrick Larsen, Dr Dalem Chandra Barman of Dhaka University and Action Aid Bangladesh Country Director Nasreen Hau also spoke.