Rights activist Sultana Kamal has claimed that people grabbing land belonging to the indigenous community are using the name of pro-liberation forces.
“If the ‘Muktijuddher Pokkher Shakti’ [pro-liberation forces] is doing this then [guess] what the anti-liberation people will do!” she said at a media briefing in Dhaka yesterday before unveiling a report on land grabbing and attack on the minority in Dinajpur’s Parbatipur.
Rana Dasgupta, general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad, read out part of the report. He said 55 families, including 40 Hindu families, were living on 25.78 acre land at Chandipur Babupara and Goalpara in Parbatipur.
These families are heavily dependent on this land for livelihood. He alleged one Emdadul Islam Chowdhury and his followers were trying to grab the land with false documents and attacked the residents with hired goons, apart from forcefully harvesting paddy and accusing members of the minority community in false cases.
Rana alleged Emdadul claimed the land belonged to Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman but the latter snubbed the claim.
On January 23, Emdadul’s men attacked these families, torched and ransacked their houses and tortured the women in presence of police.
Sultana Kamal, also the TIB chairperson, said such activities were unexpected in a democratic and secular country. “The minister has ethical responsibility to look into this matter as some local leaders are trying to grab this land using his name,” the Ain-o Shalish Kendra executive director added.