Don't take our homes away
Hundreds of char people in Mymensingh yesterday reiterated their demand for removal of their homesteads and farmlands from the proposed acquisition list.
At a rally at Char Gobindapur Primary School in Sadar upazila, they termed the acquisition list “motivated and unfair”.
People including women and children joined the rally as part of their continuous movement. They have been continuing their movement for nearly two years under “Basatbhita Rokkha Committee”.
Blaming the administration for such a list, the speakers said they do not want to be “Rohingyas” in their homeland and they want to live on their century-old ancestral homestead.
The government wants to save farmland for the country's betterment, they said. Then, why is the administration trying to acquire agricultural land for development of Mymensingh as a divisional city? they asked.
They urged the government to revise the plan.
They made an ultimatum to meet the demand within this month. The protesters said they will continue their “logical and non-violent” movement until their demands are met.
They also demanded withdrawal of two cases filed with Kotwali Police Station against their activists accused of assaulting police and obstructing them in discharging their duties in February this year.
They said the administration first prepared a list of 1220-acre of land for the development. But, it was later cancelled and the proposed list of 4366-acre was released mostly belonging to agricultural land round the year.
The proposed acquisition area of 4366-acre includes vast tracts of farmland and households, they said, adding, “The administration should implement the first list to avoid a huge loss.”
Char people sources said there are some 60,000 people involving 17,000 families and 28,000 households, 475 family graveyard, six public graveyards, 30 government and non-government primary schools, three high schools, 47 mosques, four temples, six eidgah grounds and other establishments in the new list.
Committee convener Prof Syed Mosharraf Hossain, Nayeem Uddin, Kazi Rafiqul Islam, Shahidul Islam, Sadequl Islam Sabuj, Md Shahjahan, Abul Mansur, Harun-or-Rashid, Golam Kibria also spoke.
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