Santals being denied their livelihood

Some 1,200 Santal families were evicted on November 7 from land belonging to Rangpur Sugar Mill in Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha district. The question of whether or not the indigenous community has rights to the land is not the immediate issue here. The fact is that these families are now confined to three villages of Sapmara union, for their own safety according to the police. These people have no access to the basic necessities like medicine and food, although some amount of rice and cash has been distributed among the evicted people. And they have been deprived of their employment for the last three days. The eviction drive carried out by the sugar mill authorities resulting in a clash with the Santals, who have for generations cultivated the land to eke out a living, without making provisions for their relocation and rehabilitation, resulted in casualties.

Was this really necessary? It appears that we are witnessing an erosion of tolerance against ethnic and marginalised people. The recent repeat attacks in Brahmanbaria where the level of violence has shocked many and now the uprooting of entire indigenous Santal communities from farmlands tilled since the time of their forefathers, seem to fit into a pattern where the local power elites are colluding to prey on the more vulnerable sections of our society. The land may belong to the sugar mill, but the government has a responsibility towards these families and we expect the authorities to make provisions for their livelihoods. These families, as citizens of the country, have the same basic rights as the rest of us and the State has to step in when their rights are violated so violently.