TDS Desk

Students for Sovereignty, an organization of students of the University of Dhaka (DU) established to protect sovereignty, has demanded the withdrawal of government restrictions along with guaranteeing smooth travel of tourists to the country’s only coral island, St. Martin Island.

They also claimed that the comments made by Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan about St. Martin Island were “unscientific”.

The leaders of the organization claimed this in a press conference at the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) auditorium in the capital Dhaka on Wednesday (November 13).

“Referring to foreign journals, Environment Adviser said that tourists are taking away corals, so by 2045, all the corals will be depleted and St. Martin Island will sink,” said Muhammad Ziaul Haque, convenor of the Students for Sovereignty Platform. “This statement by the Environment Adviser is completely unscientific.”

“The reality is that island corals are too big, too heavy, too sharp, and too underwater for humans to retrieve. Far from bringing coral, touching live coral can cut your hand. So the statement about taking away corals from so-called foreign journals or environmentalist is untrue and false propaganda,” he also said.

“So people want to know the secret behind banning tourists for staying and going to the island under false pretenses.”

Muhammad Ziaul Haque said, “We clearly want to say that the Environment Adviser is taking foreign advice. She does not care about the suggestions and demands of the countrymen. On the advice of foreign journals, she is pushing her country’s tourism industry and islanders into a dire situation. That cannot be done by any patriotic person.”

He also said that the island’s corals are dying but “science says that corals do not die”. Rather, it grows at an average rate of about 0.5-2.8 cm per year. On the surface of the island, it was seen that dead coral has extended the size of the island by accumulating. However, the Environment Adviser say “islands are disappearing due to coral loss”.

“Science and reality do not match the statement of the Environment Adviser,” added convenor of the Students for Sovereignty.

Joint convener Yakub Majumder said that “stray dogs are a real threat” to the environment and biodiversity of Narikel Jinjira Deep. Overpopulation of dogs on the island is causing biodiversity loss. Packs of hungry dogs attack the beached red crabs, eating the turtle eggs.

“An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 stray dogs roam the island. But the Environment Adviser has not taken any initiative to protect the environment and biodiversity by removing the dog from the island.”

“St. Martin Island is geographically in a very sensitive position. If travel to the island is stopped, the island will eventually become uninhabited. Fishermen from neighboring Myanmar, Mog, Arakanese and India will try to take over the island,” Yakub Majumder said, mentioning that “Myanmar and Arakan armies have already claimed the island several times”. In other words, in order to protect the integrity of the country, Narikel Jinjira Deep should always be friendly and encourage people to come and go.

“If we stop traveling to St. Martin Island on the pretext of anything including environmentalism, the island can be out of our hands. So all kinds of government barriers to travel to Narikel Jinjira Deep should be removed,” said Yakub Majumder.