chtnews.com
News
No. 70/2013, Saturday, June 22,
2013
A
PROBE committee has found evidence that members of minority Chak nationality
have been evicted from their lands by powerful Bengali elites in Nakyongchari,
Bandarban.
An
inquiry committee of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs ministry has verified
the allegation that 22 Chak families have been evicted from Chakpara in
Nakyongchari Upazila under Bandarban district, reports Prothom Alo.
In
its today’s issue the paper, quoting the inquiry committee, said that the
eviction was aimed at occupying their lands.
‘But
the local administration remained silent while the incidents (of illegal
occupation) had taken place.” it added.
The
committee made a list of fourteen individuals involved in grabbing 582 acres of
land belonging to the Chak community.
Of
them, four belong to the local Awami League committees.
The
inquiry committee recommended immediate arrest of these 14 land grabbers,
return of these lands to their rightful owners and protection of their safety.
The
one-man inquiry committee comprising Md. Alamgir Hossain, deputy secretary of
the CHT Affairs ministry, prepared a 32-page report after interviewing the
Bandarban district administration officials, the Superintendent of Police, the
Upazila Nirbahi Officer, the Officer in charge of local police station, the
local Union Council chairman, the headman and the victim families from 29 – 31
May.
The
committee on 11 June submitted the report to the National Human Rights
Commission on whose request the investigation was carried out.
Quoting
the report the Prothom Alo said: ‘The Chaks have been forced to leave their
hearts and homes due to a number of reasons that include dispossession of their
lands and harassment in public places. On the night of 13 March, a band of 10 -
12 robbers attacked their village, committed robbery and threatened them with
death. It’s an enigma as to why the police did not institute a case following
such a grotesque crime that is cognizable by law.’
The
report also took the local administration, including the Regional Council and
the District Council, to task for doing nothing to address the land grabbing
problem.
‘The
district administration has a role behind illegal transfers of land. According
to the CHT District Council laws, for any such transfer to be legal prior
permission of the Council is mandatory. However, the district administration
does not comply with this law.’