Evicted ethnic people living woeful life

Fifteen indigenous families at Madhnagar village of Naldanga upazila in the district are living an inhuman life following their eviction from there Tuesday morning.

There was a case over the ownership of land between the indigenous people living there and one Bazlur Rashid for long and recently the latter got a court order in his favour, said Dewan Amzad Hossain, chairman of Madhnagar union parishad in Naldanga.

Rashid's men dismantled the indigenous people's houses in presence of a representative (najir) of the Senior Judicial Magistrate's Court, he said.

"The police vandalised our house with the help of Bazlur Rashid and his men in presence of a najir of a Natore court. They beat me, my wife and daughter mercilessly," said Karun Kumar Sing, a victim.

"As policemen were beating my father and mother, I requested them to stop the cruelty. But they beat me too," said Karun's daughter Basona Sing, 13.

"The criminals also damaged my books. Where will we go now? Who will feed us?" she said.

Rajkumar Sing, another victim of the eviction, said the indigenous families were living there for over 50 years.

"All of the 30 decimals of land is a khas land and the government earlier allocated it for us," he claimed.

"We are living here for generations. I was born in this land and want to die here," said Arjun Kumar Sing, another victim.

Jatiya Adivasi Parishad at a human chain and protest programme in front of Natore Press Club on Wednesday morning gave an ultimatum to the government to rehabilitate the evicted families within seven days.

Earlier on Tuesday night, the upazila nirbahi officer of Naldanga visited the spot and arranged a temporary shelter in a local school for the evicted indigenous people.

The district administration is taking necessary steps for rehabilitation of the indigenous people, said Shahina Khatun, deputy commission of Natore.

"The place under question is a khas land. None have the right to occupy the government land without any permission or allocation. We will take legal action against the grabbers," she added.