Time to repeal Enemy Property Act
Recent story on DS.
BNP cadres grab land of Hindu families in Munshiganj, Allege victims
Local BNP cadres grabbed the lands and other properties of 50 Hindu families at Louhajang in Munshiganj and forced them out of their houses about two months ago, the victims alleged yesterday.
Same story has been going on for ages with state protection with a state stipulated law called Vested Property Act. Its about time we kill this darkest of all laws. To see the actual law, go here.
From Shahrier Khan
Minority Hindus deprived of land rights in Bangladesh
Sharier Khan OneWorld South Asia , June, 2004
A discriminatory law enacted decades ago in Muslim majority Bangladesh continues to deprive hundreds of thousands of minority Hindus of land rights, despite being repealed in 2001.
Before Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, West Pakistani military rulers had enacted the Enemy Property Act, 1965, to drive Hindus out to neighboring India after grabbing their lands.
Since then, encroachers have misused the law with the help of corrupt state authorities to grab property by identifying Hindus as “enemies of the state.”
Explains the secretary of the Bangladesh Economic Association and land researcher, professor Abul Barakat, “Following independence, a predominantly Muslim but secular Bangladesh should have had abolished this law. But the state renamed it the Vested Property Act to acquire the properties of people from West Pakistan who had left after the war.”
The four-decades-old law has seen around a million Hindus lose at least 2.1 million acres of land.
To amend the situation, the former Awami League government had enacted the Vested Property Repeal Act in 2001. But it was never implemented because of objections from politically influential encroachers and legal complications.
Explains a senior land ministry source, “While the government is responsible for taking over all land under the Enemy Property Act, in reality it does not control 99 percent of these lands. If the repeal is implemented, the government will have to return the lands to their rightful owners. But how will it do so when it has lost track of these lands?”
The initiative further lost steam when the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led ruling coalition came to power.
Charges the vice chairman of the Bangladesh Bar Council, barrister Amir-Ul Islam, “The BNP government has stayed the execution of the repeal with ulterior motives, putting the minority community in trouble.”
Defending the government, Law Minister Moudud Ahmed informs, “We are scrutinizing the (repeal) act. The issue has a legacy of nearly 40 years now. It is a very difficult problem that cannot be resolved overnight. But we are committed to tackling it.”
Concedes advocate Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Land, “The government is aware of land grabbing and the committee is working on reforms. We are recommending laws to take stern action against encroachers.”
The law seems to have served its masters well. The nongovernmental organization for the landless Samata found that because of migration to neighboring India, Hindus comprised just 9.2 percent of the population in 2001, down from 18.4 percent in 1961.
Abul Barakat also conducted research which revealed that apart from Hindus, land encroachment victims also included 31 other ethnic minority groups that comprise 12 percent of the country’s 140 million population.
According to him, the share of landless households increased from 19 percent in 1960 to 56 percent in 1996.
But Barakat maintains that, “Hindus are the worst affected as they are the biggest minority group who owned plenty of land before the discrimination began. More than one-third Hindus have turned landless or marginal landowners.”
Agrees Hindu lawyer Arun Pal. “All the Hindus of two villages in our region in Gopalganj (140 kilometers southwest of Dhaka) have become landless from 1965. Over the years, many of my neighbors have gone to India and many others are living destitute on other peoples’ lands although they are land owners themselves,” he discloses.
Pal is lucky his ancestral home was not seized, unlike 50-year old Debashish of Tangail, 120 kilometers north of Dhaka. Debashish’s life changed in the early 1980s when encroachers in connivance with land officials took away his lands.
Recalls Debashish, “I discovered I was no longer the owner of my land one morning when I went to the land office to pay my taxes.” Encroachers promptly descended on his property and drove him away.
But Debashish has not yet abandoned hope. “I am waiting for the government to implement the repeal of the Vested Property Act,” he says optimistically.
Rights groups are also campaigning for the cause of people like Debashish.
Lashes out land rights activist and Dhaka University professor Ahmed Kamal, “This law has caused mass migration, dispossession of huge amounts of land and other assets, breaking of family ties, the loss of human potential, disruption in social capital formation, and the creation of parasitic vested interest groups.”
Activist and advocate Subrata Chowdhury asks the government to ensure the repeal of the Act and help dispossessed people get their land back, calling the legislation a “death trap for the minorities.”
Leader of the National Committee of Vested Property Act Resistance Movement Kamal Lohani terms the Act a “black law,” charging, “It discriminates against religious minorities in a democratic society. Yet the government is reviving it by empowering district officials to lease out so-called ‘vested’ property.”
He adds that grabbers have captured 4.2 million acres of government land. “If we can recover them, hundreds of thousands of landless families will be rescued from a life of poverty.”
Bangladesh has 37.4 million acres of land area with 60 percent under agricultural use. According to the NGO Samata, 57 percent of the population is landless.
August 2nd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
I would agree 100% that its high time to repeal such a heinous law, I would also support an amendment to the constitution reinstating Bangladesh as a secular Country, imagine if the constitution of USA is amended someday to make Christianity the state religion (since vast majority of Americans identify themselves with Christianity) how would we feel? That would involuntarily make us a second class citizen overnight, we have no right to demand any righteousness in our adopted country while we discriminate against minorities in our own backyard.
August 2nd, 2007 at 11:20 pm
The following was posted previously in another thread (The other Kind of Corruption), with your permission, I am posting it here again, as it is an appropriate thread, thanks for opening this thread:
I wanted to point out one facet of our national participation in corruption where the poor and rich participated with equal vigor for 6 decades and I do not know its extent at present time. There is a series of article here:
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6757
After going through the 14 part article, I came away with renewed appreciation that grievous wrong has been done with minority Hindu population in Bangladesh and the full extent of which is either a taboo subject or not well known to all.
It is my hobby to study history of different regions to come up with cause and effect links in the chain of events. The partition is a puzzling event in the history of the sub-continent, as I could not understand how Muslims could be interested, deluded or misled to form a different country, what were the leaders thinking and how did they move the masses and sold this as a dream to them. Sure there was mistrust and fear of a majority Hindu oppression but it does not explain the whole story.
In my observation I found that forming a separate country did not make sense for the following reasons:
- the Indian Muslim community gets divided into three separate landmass
- it artificially cuts a relatively unified Hindustan that was together for almost a 1000 years under Muslim and British rule, specially the current landmass of Pakistan and Bangladesh which were always under Muslim rule, unlike some South Indian states
- trade and business would be adversely affected between these two hostile Muslim and Hindu dominated state
My hypothesis is the following:
- the muslim leadership did not want to be ruled under a Hindu majority
- muslim elite wanted a majority Muslim dominion of their own where they could be absolute leaders without Hindu interference
- muslim elite and middle class mobilized and fooled the masses and sold their dream of Pakistan for their selfish interest as they stood to benefit the most in this new country where they would become the unchallenged master
- the long term implications of Partition were misunderstood and not studied in earnest
The more I delve into it, the more I realize the depth of frustration felt by Gandhi, Abul Kalam Azad and Badshah Khan, who tried with all their might to stop this from happening. But India in 1940’s was a communal powder keg after a divide and rule policy of 90 years since the first independence movement of 1857 where Hindu’s and Muslims fought together to kick out the invader and all it needed was some match light. Jinnah, Suhrwardy and others were there to light it. The Direct action riot in Calcutta was planned by Suhrwardy and was helped by the British led police inaction and I do not know why the British would be interested to see a divided India. Neheru, Sardar Patel and other congress leaders were convinced that there would be civil war between Hindu’s and Muslims if Partition did not happen. So eventually Gandhi agreed reluctantly, but he never accepted it.
Whatever little my life experience and whatever historical studies I have made, my personal opinion is that it would have been better to keep India together, even at the expense of a civil war. Casualty would have been more or less than the estimated 1 million that died in Partition but the future of the people of sub-continent would have been incalculably better than what we have today.
The eventual breakup of Pakistan was just a side-note to this larger mistake, to show the magnitude of the error that was made in those crucial years, by our past leaders. This in no way means we can go back to history, as the sub-continental history, I believe, have changed forever, without ever having any chance to go back to the point of 1947, namely to have a chance to be united again, despite many pipe dreams of Akhanda Hindustan by some dreamers in India.
Finally coming back to the topic of corruption by our people, it exposed one of the ugliest but universal of Human character, which also happens to be the prime motivators of Human - namely greed for material objects. I think as soon as the idea of Partition was proposed, the majority realized they stood to gain the property of the minority at little or no cost as they could easily be driven off. This single fact a pure economic reason I believe was the most important factor why partition became popular among masses in majority Muslim areas. All the harassment, killing, rape etc. are just methods to the end, which was to gain the property when the owner left their ancestral home.
Why I brought all this old story, because the minority rights of Hindu population in Bangladesh with still a relatively large population of more than 15 million, is directly related to the pattern that was set with the idea of partition, namely the Muslim masses illegitimate and evil eye towards the property of the vulnerable Hindu community.
My suggestion to our current and future leadership of Bangladesh would be to work on correcting this fundamental problem that was created with Partition, that is protection of property of minorities, through the constitutional amendments and through judicious enforcement practice. This is not to appease India or the West or any other external agents. As decent human beings and good upright Muslims, this is to acknowledge that we as a people have committed a crime for far too long and we must take measures to stop the practice immediately and make sure that it does not happen in our midst again. Surely we cannot change the past, but we can change the future by what we do today. A country and nation cannot be built on fundamental unfairness that was engaged to by a large cross section of the people and not checked by its so called enlightened leaders.
The following is new addition to the above previous post:
An important byproduct of the partition, in addition to the landgrab is the following:
- it took 800 years to form a nation of Hindustan with its Hindu-Muslim allied ruling class
- it took 200 years in British India to form a colonial English ruling class and a mostly Hindu subordinate elite, as Muslims were mostly marginalized in this period
- with partition the relatively small Muslim elite of the subcontinent mostly went to West wing of Pakistan and East wing of Pakistan or East Bengal lost its educated Hindu elite
- since partition a local Muslim “secular, ethno-linguistic” elite has emerged in East wing that asserted itself in 1971, but it is still unable to lead effectively
- in summary, the legacy of the colonial rule is still apparent in the ineffective leadership of all of subcontinent, but for above historical reasons, India is in a better position than both Pakistan and Bangladesh
- since 1971 the evolution of ruling class continues within Bangladesh and 1/11 is probably just a minor or major watershed moment in this process
- 1/11 is an apparent positive development but many are claiming that it is a repeat of the past military takeovers
- history teaches us that unless there is a revolution, evolution cannot beget drastic changes and we should limit our expectations, the best we can hope for is a system where change and reform is firmly institutionalized, constant and incremental, so that in the longer term we have an ever improving system.
So, what I am trying to say is, it is futile to get disheartened by the state of reality, since reality is what it is because of thousands years of history and cause and effect relationship. Like the flow of a river it cannot and will not change course overnight (unless there is a huge major earthquake, ie revolution). It is probably better to try to understand the reasons and root causes behind present reality and then try to take measures based on those understandings so that effective long term changes can take place.
Thanks, end of lecture.
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:25 am
Being miority is a curse and I believe, a horrible experience. That’s why I learned to hate national ID or nationhood. Just articficial nationhoodstatehood is the man-made tragedity for humanity. Minority and majority is the biggest problem of the world. It’s the cause of human tragedy, cause of war, killings, destruction, massive eviction/migration all across the planet.
The greater we will have national pride and the commitment the greater the patriot we are but in my reading greater the criminal we become. We become razakers and muktijoddah; We become Filistini we become Israeli; we become Cosovoian and we become Servian; we become Russian and Chechnian and thus kill each other. The penchent nationalist or pattriot can be war-criminal in the war field and they are the people who rush to crush the minority.
Partriotism, nationalism and the concept of independence/freedom in the confinement by territorial boundary is the greatest enemy of humans. This so called sublime state of mind of people snatch away the humanity from them. That’s why I decry all these so called good stuff which the people fight and die for. We should only fight for humanity and human nation-state, one nation [Human Nation] and one state[Human Nation-State].
The minority status attributes inferiority complex to the minority. Minority without their consciousness mold their character in very negative way and that we called migrant character/ghoti-charitra. For the sufferings of the minority, their changed character also somewhat responsible.
In the context of Bangladeshi Hindu minority, the so called minority-friendly groups just exaggerate the problem for own interest and sex up the situation for some hidden agenda. People migrate to other countries not just for atroicities by majority. India is a big nieghbor and moreover Hindu is the majority over there. For so many reasons they will prefer to be settled over there and they are doing that for the last 6 decades. Now everyday people from Bangladesh migrating to America, Canada, Newzeland, Australia and different European countries. This doesn’t necessarily mean that people are migrating due to atrocities to committed to them back in their countries. They are migrating for better lives and better future. Some family may be the victims of majority misrule or persecution but from some sporadic incedence we can’t extrapolate to all hindu migrants and say that all the hindus are migrating out for discrimiantion, injustice, atrocities etc. When they migrate they sell their properties sometimes in good price and sometimes low price. Sometimes even the minority cheat the majority. They sell their landed-property to more than one customers and slip away cheating people.
So we should be objective and truthful before oiling our propaganda machine.
Thanks.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:43 am
Man’s dilemma is that he tries to be rational but in the end he fails and comes back to the secure lap of his mother culture and tradition. These mother cultures have been remarkably resilient for thousands of years, perhaps because they are rooted in our primeval past with occasional changes or turning points or I should rather say metamorphosis as they have helped the survival of communities. Because of this their fate in the foreseeable future seem secure. So when this fact is taken into consideration, then our world becomes easier to decipher. Perhaps our evolution has made us evolved to a point and the imperceptible and slow evolution will take its course and take the human brain to a new level in the far future. My sympathies for the predicament of victims of the cultural tectonic plate movements are genuine as I realize the absurdity and the despair of the victims, but as long as we manage the difficulties and survive through the troubled waters is all that really matters.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:48 am
Re#2:
As the Sachar Report last year conclusively proved, those who fought to split India ended up doing its Muslims a permament favour for which we should be grateful for a very long time to come!
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachar_Committee
Which doesn’t justify this abomination called the Enemy Property Act that still stands in our law books as a stain on our national conscience. It has contributed materially to the migration of Bangladeshi Hindus to India (which for all we know was probably the aim of its creators in the first place. Ethnic cleansing through the backdoor?). It never ceases to shock me when Musulman bhodroloks in Bangladesh blame the Hindu minority of a lack of patriotism - they very conveniently forget about the legalized looting of land and other forms of institutional discrimination that Hindus must put up with.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Ref#3
Because the whole partition was based on the division of the sub-continent according to religious majority/minority divide, it is quite understandable why Bangladeshi minority communities will feel unwelcome and uncomfortable in a majority Muslim country. Since the birth of East Pakistan and later Bangladesh we have fueled in their fear by the Enemy Property Act, Vested Property Act and constitutional changes towards a more Islamic state identity. My point is that the inferiority complex is not self made. we as a state forced inferiority upon our fellow citizens.
It is true that people leave their own country for many reasons. But leaving your home under duress does not constitute free will. Not each and every Hindu faces violence, threat, atrocities or direct harassment, but many do. And the fear that this may happen to others encourage a lot to leave. This is not free choice, it is a choice made under fear of personal security and safety. I have personally known members of Hindu community who were told to leave Bangladesh and go to India. I know Hindu women who avoid wearing sankha and sindur for personal security. Let us not shy away from true facts. we should be able to face these facts to be able to solve the problem. Otherwise we will continue with absurd and repressive laws like Vested Property Act for decades.
Shohana
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Thanks Asif S for raising this issue.
It amazes me (perhaps it shouldn’t) that for all the talk of tackling corruption and removing it from society forever, the CTG does not seem to be addressing one of the major tools through which the corrupt have accumulated property in Bangladesh, and that is use of the Enemy/Vested Property Act, which makes it very easy once one has a concerted plan, to acquire property from a minority owner. In the vast majority of cases of property that has been confiscated, particularly since 1991, it is not individuals (eg neighbour jealously eyeing property of the guy who lives next door) but local leaders backed by political parties with an army of goons to make sure the victim doesn’t make any legal attempts to fight back. This is often overlooked by those who stil try to justify existence of VPA/EPA as some kind of Robin Hood means of redistributing property from millionare Hindu zamindars (how many of them exist in BD today?) to landless Muslim families on the poverty line.
Given the attitude of “we will address all wrongs that previous governments have been unable or unwilling to tackle”, this major blot and driver of corruption has been ignored.
Re Bitterboy #3:
“People migrate to other countries not just for atroicities by majority. India is a big nieghbor and moreover Hindu is the majority over there. For so many reasons they will prefer to be settled over there and they are doing that for the last 6 decades.”
There is a very big difference between people migrating for econonmic reasons and people buying a one-way ticket never intending to return. Often in the former, it is just one or a couple of members from an extended family, with the dream of perhaps coming back one day, and rarely with the intent to sever all personal connections with the original home. In the latter, it is often an entire extended family which disappears forever - despite a history of hundreds of years previously. In the former, you may have tearful relatives seeing you off at the airport praying for your success and eventual return. In the latter, you are often sneaking out in the middle of the night, anonymously.
Yes, there are many Bangladehsi Hindus who have migrated for economic reasons just like their fellow country men, and fall into the category of those hoping to return one day or those who still have their families living in BD. But, the EPA/VPA is responsible to a huge extent for a large chunk of the Bangladeshi Hindu population having left for good. Overnight, the largest asset that you own is taken away from you. What is the impact on your economic and physical security? What will you leave your children? Where will your aged relatives spend their last days?
We should also take a moment to think of Professor Abul Barakat mentioned in the article. He has tirelessly and fearlessly researched this topic so that we at least have statistics to back up what was always dismissed as exaggeration or propaganda. He is a great example of someone committed to academic freedom and human rights, despite the personal and professional risks.
August 4th, 2007 at 12:47 am
My personal Kudos to Shohana & Udayan for their write-up, no matter how much inconvenient the truth is we should always have the guts to discuss it so that history doesn’t repeat itself
August 4th, 2007 at 4:23 am
Much of our historical discussions consist of who did what in the 1970s and we often forget that major events happened before that decade. Thank you Khilji for raising a good discussion. I do, however, think your analysis of partition omits a few things.
First, recent research (eg by Joya Mukherjee, Patrick French) suggest that at least in Bengal, it was the Hindu leadership that wanted partition in the 1940s. Suhrawardy and Fazlul Huq wanted a united, secular and independent Bengal, but Hindu-dominated Congress wanted partition even if Bengal had remained within India.
Second, no one really wanted partition in the form that it happened. No major political player even proposed ethnic cleansing or transfer of population. Jinnah and Nehru both subscribed to the ‘hostage thesis’ when it came to the minorities: each country would treat its minorities well because a failure to do so would mean the other country would treat its minority poorly. This didn’t happen, and the fault is largely in the Muslim countries. Someone mentioned Sachar Commission. At least there is a Sachar Commission in India. There is nothing like that in Bangladesh, and in Pakistan non-Muslims don’t even have equal rights.
August 7th, 2007 at 6:10 am
[...] Group Blog Unheard Voices explains: Encroachers have misused the law with the help of corrupt state authorities to grab property by [...]
August 9th, 2007 at 7:19 am
We need our leaders to:
- have a long term vision and to understand how to protect the interest of his/her people in the long term
- to point out errors committed by masses who by nature are driven by short term interests such as the example of this gain of minority property
- lead not for popularity, but by being righteous and to establish justice and to instill and inspire the same values in his/her people as opposed to petty material gains