chtnews.com
News No. 50/2014,
Saturday, July 19, 2014
THE suspected Bengali
settlers on Wednesday pulled down an under construction house belonging to
Rissho Kosei Kai Centre in Betchari, violating a police order to maintain
status quo.
Ven. Sadhana Jyoti
Bhikkhu, General Secretary of Betchari Rissho Kosei Kai Centre, confirmed
to chtnews.com that
the Bengali settlers, who are trying to grab the land of Rissho Kosei Kai, had
tore down the structure on 16 June.
Earlier, on 8 May, the
settlers had demolished the foundation stone of the Centre and pulled down its
signboard.
Three Bengali settlers
claim the land to be their own, but the Jummas vehemently dispute it.
They say that the
settlers laid claim only when Rissho Kosei Kai laid the foundation stone and
that during the last few years when the Jummas planted trees and built a house
the settlers had been silent.
“There existed a
Buddhist temple on the said land until 1990. It was destroyed when the army
forced the Jumma villagers of Betchari to live in a cluster village.” they
added.
They accuse the
settlers of obstructing the development work of Rissho Kosei Kai, saying: the
settlers’ claim is absolutely false and nonsense; and it was made to hinder any
development work that would benefit the poor Jumma villagers.
After Rissho Kosei Kai
filed a complaint with the district administration, the Superintendent of
Police of Khagrachari district on 23 June served a notice on both the parties
to the dispute to maintain status quo. [Memo No. 1685/Second part].
The Assistant Police
Commissioner also reiterated the same at a meeting on 15 July in which both the
parties were present.
Rissho Kosei Kai is a
Japan-based international development Buddhist organization, with branches in
various countries.
It has 12 branches in
Bangladesh including one in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
The Rissho Kosei Kai
has a plan to build a Buddhist temple and a meditation centre on the disputed
land.
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