Gaibandha violence aftermath: No home, and now no education

The future seems dark for the young Santals of Madarpur. Driven out of their village by the police and local thugs, at least 60-70 children and youths from the community have stopped going to school through fear of assault. “We cannot go to school," said Magdulina, a class-six student. "We tried to go and they said: 'You are Santals. Why are you here?' If we go to school they will beat us.” They also lost all their textbooks and study materials in the arson that burned all their homes to ground. “Our books were burnt there in the village. We do not even have anything to eat. Our parents are going unfed, too,” she said.

---

Also Read- Watch: Tractor tramples burned down Santal village in Gaibandha

---

Following a violent eviction carried out by local thugs watched over by policemen, which began on Sunday and continued intermittently until Monday, some 1,000 Santal families have fled their homes and taken shelter in nearby villages. Children from the community are saying they fear they might be beaten up on their way to the school, or even in the schools. In a nearby village, one of our correspondents found Santal families sitting around in the yards of people who had given them shelter. Children were also there sitting by their elders.

---

Also Read- Rangpur Sugar Mill clash: 1 Santal dies, 1,000 families flee

---

  Members of Santal community, displaced by violence over possession of lands in Gaibandha's Gobindaganj upazila, are living without roof in nearby villages, fearing of more assaults Mehdi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneMost of the children in the community are enrolled in the Sahebganj Farm Government Primary School, but Headmaster Abdul Baki said none of his Santal students had been to the school since the incident. He said he had spoken to some of the parents and heard that the students were too afraid to come to the school. Archana, a class four student, said she wanted dearly to get back to school but could not because of the fear of violence.

---

Also Read- Special: Madarpur, a godforsaken village

---

Some of the older children are college and university-level students. Medi Soren, a second-year honours student, said he could not imagine that this sort of torture would descend upon him and his neighbours. An SSC candidate said: “I have exams soon and I am wondering whether I will be able to sit for the exam. I have no home now, where am I going to study?”

---

Also Read- Sugar Mill clash: Another Santal dead

---

Five days ago, the community was living in a long line of nearly 600 shanties, built only four months ago. Now the place is a flat piece of land, darkened with ash. For the Santal children of Madarpur, it seems their hope of a school education also went up in the flames.