It goes against PM's vow to protect arable land

Establishing a special economic zone (SEZ) in Habiganj will go against the prime minister's commitment for not using farmland to set up industrial units, tea garden workers and a group of political leaders advocating minority rights said yesterday. They said the existing laws for protection of arable land would also be violated, and above all thousands of tea workers, who have been living off the land for centuries, would lose their source of food.

They made the observations at a protest rally in front of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority's office in the capital. It was held under the platform titled "Tea workers can't be evicted from the lands of Chandpur, Begumkhan tea estates".

The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), Gonosamhati Andolon, Gonoforum, and several other organisations participated in the protest.

“We are not against industrialisation. But what we are seeing here is nothing short of a conspiracy to grab arable lands from tea workers,” said BSD leader Razequzzaman Ratan.

The proposed SEZ would only serve the interest of a select few at home and abroad but the tea workers would go broke, he added.

CPB President Mujahidul Islam Selim said while SEZ's benefits like foreign investment and job creations were promoted everywhere, the woes of tea workers remained untold.

“They get only Tk 69 per day for their work at the tea estates. They had been able to make a living because they had the land to cultivate and reside in,” he said.

Feroz Ahmed, Bazlur Rashid Firoz, and Jolly Talukdar also spoke.