Hindu land in Bangladesh

in bangladesh Incidents of attacks on Hindus and temples make headlines in the country and abroad, but since before the independence of that country, the process of occupying the land of Hindus is going on continuously. India also sacrificed its soldiers to get freedom for Bangladesh. At that time also India’s favor was considered and it is still considered today. India is counted among friendly countries, but there is so much influence of fundamentalist forces that even today the government has changed its name and is implementing the Enemy Property Act. This act was made when Bangladesh was included in Pakistan. Even after getting independence from Pakistan in 1971, the government continued this act.

On November 6, 2008, a division bench of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh imposed rule nisi on the Government of Bangladesh with respect to the Enemy Property Law (Continuance of Emergency Provisions) (Repeal) Act 1974 and ordered the implementation of the Arpita Property Extradition Ain circular and its administrative orders. Pronounced the verdict of The court had asked to return the grabbed land of Hindus and other communities within four weeks. After this, in the last 15 years, billions of liters of water from the Padma river has entered the sea, but the order of the court is lying in cold storage. The government neither filed a review petition nor did the honorable court bother to run a contempt case. This proved once again that even the courts there bowed down to the fundamentalist forces. It doesn’t matter if the Hindu community continues to protest. Cleverly see that the Hasina government has changed the name of Enemy Property Act to Waste Property Act.

In law, this act should have been applicable to those who left their property and went to West Pakistan after the 1971 war, but perhaps Hasina and Khaleda Zia’s governments have considered Hindus as their enemies. That’s why the government immediately took possession of the property of Hindu politician Dhirendra Nath Dutt, who was martyred at the hands of the Pakistani army in the 1971 war. The argument given was that his body had not been found.
Apart from this, the entire land of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who is currently fighting a documentary battle for 13 decimal land in Shanti Niketan, Bengal, was also confiscated after his arrival in India. In 1999, the Bangladesh government announced that it was considering returning the land to the Sen family, after the award had attracted international attention. The fact is that till date it is only being considered.

Abdul Barkat, Professor of Dhaka University, in one of his books published in 2000, presented a figure of the confiscated property of Hindus. It was told that by that time the agricultural land of 7,48,850 Hindu families had been grabbed. Govind Chand Pramanik, general secretary of the Bangladesh National Hindu Mahajot, told this writer that apart from Hindus, lands belonging to Christians, tribes such as the Moors, Tangchangyas and Santhals living in areas adjacent to Tripura have also fallen into the eyes of fundamentalists. The land mafia here has not even spared the land of Dhakeshwari, the biggest Hindu temple in Bangladesh. It should be known that Dhaka is named after Dhakeshwari temple. See the irony that on October 9, 2018, the Hasina government tried to earn the sympathy of Hindus by giving 1.5 bigha land worth 50 crore Taka (Rs 43 crore) nearby to the Dhakeshwari temple administration for just 10 crore Taka. Apart from this, the government had increased the fund of Hindu Welfare Trust from 21 crores to 100 crores. It was the election season at that time and the government had shown this generosity only to garner international headlines.

Bangladesh also has elections in 2024 and the government recently drafted a law to protect the religious property of Hindus. The new law may allow authorities to return land as well as take steps to protect such property. But the question arises that what will happen to the Hindu farmers who once used to earn their living by farming, who are forced to work as laborers in other’s fields after losing their land? (Credits: Amar Ujala)
Bimal Rai