PRESS
STATEMENT
SAJEK'S
BURNT VILLAGES:
CITIZEN'S
TEAM CALLS FOR INQUIRY AND URGENT RELIEF
A group of citizens
conducted an on-site inquiry on 28th and 29th April 2008 in Sajek
Union, Rangamati District, following press reports of about 150 houses being
burnt down across seven villages in the area.
On arrival in the area, we saw that in eight villages within the reserved
forest area in Sajek Union -- Nursery Para, Daney Bhaibachora, Bamey
Bhaibachora, Purbopara, Balughatpara, Retkaba, MSF Para and Gongaram Mukh – the
mostly Pahari houses which had been burnt down to the ground remained just as
they were. The charred remains of burnt houses could be seen across a four
kilometer long area. Many people are still in hiding. Others told us that
several persons were injured during this incident. People do not have proper
shelter, and some remain under open skies.
During the on-site
inquiry, we spoke to victims and witnesses among both Paharis and Bangalis,
other local persons, and to Army personnel, to clarify what had happened. Today
we will attempt to outline for you the situation we witnessed, the main causes
behind it, and the required action which we believe is necessary at this point.
Those of us who visited the area at our own cost did so because we believed
that the full facts of what had occurred in Baghaichori, a remote hilly area,
had not been fully covered in the national media.
*****
To date, no official
record appears to have been made of exactly how many houses were burnt down, or
how many people affected. According to news reports, about 150 to 200 families
have been affected, of whom most are Chakmas. Speaking to victims and
eyewitnesses of the incident, we came to learn that on 20th April
from about 9pm till early morning houses in the area, mostly belonging to
Paharis, and some to Bangali Settlers, with most of their contents including cooking utensils, books, clothes, were burnt to
ashes.
Several Chakma
inhabitants of the area described how they stood aside in fear, as their houses
were burnt to the ground.
· A Chakma inhabitant of Balurghat
Para village, aged 45/50, stated 'Our rice, clothes, pots-pans-plates have
all been burnt. School books, birth registration certificates, SSC
certificates, they're all totally burnt.'
· Several eyewitnesses and victims
mentioned that valuables were looted by those who burnt down the houses. A
Chakma inhabitant of Daney Bhaibachora village, aged 35/40, ran out of his home
on hearing screaming at about 9.45pm on 20th April, to see a house
was burning and people shouting to be saved from the flames. His whole house
had been burnt to ashes. Only the charred remains of the wooden pillars could
be seen. He stated, 'The people who were setting things alight, they first
took out from our homes, the TVs, beds, wardrobes, whatever they found,
they looted, and at the end they torched the houses. Those who set the houses
alight. They took everything. 'Another Chakma woman stated, 'I've heard
that a TV was found in the Bangali Para. The Army has said that they will
return the TV'.
· An elderly Chakma,
aged about 80 'I've never faced such misery (oshanti) before.' In this
home, there are two school going students in this family, one studying for the
SSC and another in class seven, whose books have all been burnt and who cannot
attend classes.
Bangalis are also
alleged to have put up huts after having broken down the place of worship in
Gongaram Mukh. Local residents said that even after making a complaint to the
local Army Camp, there has been no action. After the fire, about 30/35 families
came to take shelter at the Baghaihat Moitripur Jogi Bono Bihara [
· The priest of the Bihara said 'I
am ashamed to say this. I am also a religious leader. This kind of incident has
happened in my area.'
Some of the Bangalis
affected also described the events of 20 April. These Bangalis are known as
'settlers' to the local Paharis.
· Md Rafiqul Islam came to
Baghaichori about 10/11 years ago. He lives in the Musulman Para. About two
months ago, he put up a hut near the Pahari houses in Gongaram Mukh. On the
night of the incident, he said he had heard the sounds 'Ujao, Ujao', and fled
from his home in fear. He said: 'Hearing the cries of Ujao Ujao coming
closer, I fled and took shelter in the army camp.' Another eyewitness, the
General Secretary of Baghaichori Bazaar Shomiti stated that 'On the night of
the incident, at about 9.45 I was in Major Hafiz's vehicle [as we came
out of the Camp, where there was an event going on for the founding anniversary
of the 2 B Regiment, on hearing a hullabaloo from outside]. We
· heard the sounds 'Ujao, Ujao' and
saw about 100/150 masked people wearing black clothes setting houses alight.
They were not local Paharis. They were outsiders.'
Victims'
Accounts of the Background to the Arson Attacks: The vast Sajek Union is located at one end of Rangamati District, and
mainly comprises of Reserved Forests. Any settlement in this area is considered
to be illegal. But many Paharis have lived in this area for generations in
accordance with their customary norms and without any official title deeds.
Both Paharis and
Bangalis noted as a cause of the incident that there had been rising tension in the area for about two months. The main reason for
this tension was that the Bangalis had been erecting houses near or adjacent to
the Pahari's houses. The same sight could be seen all along the four kilometers
of the main road between Baghaihat and Gongaram. Next to the Pahari house or
across it is a house of a Bangali settler, in which no-one appears to stay or
to sleep at night. After talking to the Settler there, we learned that these
huts have been put up over the last two months or so. From the beginning the
Paharis could not accept that Bangalis would establish settlements on their
traditional lands. There had already been conflict and confrontation over this
issue. First the Paharis had objected to the Bangalis erecting these buildings.
Although the hut construction did not end in the face of these protests, the
tensions certainly increased.
From a visit to the
area, it became evident that the fire could not have spread from house to house
given the sparse density of their location, rather
each house must have been separately set alight. For example, we saw in
Bhaibachora village that between two burnt down Pahari houses a Bangali
settler, Abul Malek and his mother in law Anwara Begum were in residence. Even
though the two Chakma houses burnt down on 20th the hut in the
middle did not.
Except for in Gongram
Mukh, we could see that the Pahari homes had been burnt to the ground, but next
door or close by Bangali homes or huts remained standing. This pattern
indicated that whoever had been responsible for the burnings had most likely
planned the exercise, identified the Pahari and Bangali houses and then set
them alight. Almost everyone mentioned two names, Ali and Babul, as being
the ones most involved with trying to displace the Paharis from the area
through fear. A Chakma inhabitant of Gongaram Mukh said that Ali and some
others had come to his shop on 19th April and threatened him that if
he remained there till after dusk, then they would burn him and the shop down
and kill his whole family. In fear, he sent his wife and children to another
house that very evening. On the next night, 20th April, his house
was burnt down. With tears in his eyes, this man said, pointing to his torn
short sleeved shirt and lungi, ' I've been wearing these same clothes ever
since the burnings'.
A Karbari from one
village said 'If they see 2/3 of us talking to each other, they inform the
Army Camp.Another Pahari inhabitant of Gongaram Mukh, unwilling to state
his name, said 'We were told to put up our houses about 2/3 km away from the
road. The Settlers' houses would be next to the road. Ali and his cronies said
that they would slaughter us like sacrificial cows if we said anything about
it.'
It is true that the
fires began because of the ongoing tensions between Paharis and Bangalis, but
in our view the reasons were deeper, that is the construction of Bangali
settlements here and pushing the Paharis into an even more marginal and
vulnerable existence. But it is also true that most of the Bangalis who live in
that area are extremely poor, dependent on government rations. These marginal
people, from different districts of the country, are surviving there on
government patronization.
Relief
and Rehabilitation: Relief has now been
distributed in the area on three occasions, most recently on the occasion of
the visit by the Army Chief on 29 April, when each affected person was given
Taka 500 and some food (5 kg rice, 1 kg dal and 2 kg potatoes). On two earlier
occasions, Taka 500 had been given from the army and civilian administration
respectively. During the Army Chief's visit it was announced that each family
would be given Taka 10,000 for reconstruction of their homes. Several of
those we interviewed said that this amount would not be adequate. Some Paharis
alleged that Bangali Settlers had been given more relief. We also saw a number
of Chakmas come back empty handed from the event.
Who is
Responsible? When traveling from Khagrachari to
Baghaihat in Baghaichori located at the end of Rangamati upto Gongaram Mukh,
any ordinary citizen would wonder 'Is this my country'? Because
of the intensity of army checking. There is very tight screening
there. The names of whoever enters or exits the area is
written down. Each such person has to give their identity. The car numbers are
noted. And on leaving the area, that number is again checked. We thought it was
important to ask how such an arson attack could take place in the midst of such
close monitoring.
We asked some of the
Pahari victims, who do you think is responsible? They
said without any hesitation that they saw
Bangali settlers burning down the houses, and the Army were with them. On the
other hand, the Bangali victims said that local Paharis were not involved with
the incident, but rather outsiders.
Army's
Statement: We met with personnel at the
Baghaihat Army Camp. When asked about whether the Army Camp had any involvement with the incidents, Commanding
Officer Lt Col Imtiaz stated 'There is no question of any connection. We
heard the sounds 'Ujao! Ujao!'and shouting and quickly
went there. I sent forces. I also went there myself. I would definitely say
that outsider Paharis carried out this terror, those who don't want to see
Paharis and Bangalis living together in peace and harmony'. He further
informed us that it appeared to him that prima facie the JSS or UPDF were
responsible for this incident. In response to a query about whether any action
had been taken re the activities of Ali and Babul, Lt Col Imtiaz further stated
that 'The Karbari of Gongaram Mukh, Bilash Chakma had raised a complaint
about threatening Mongol Kumar Chakma, and after that we held Ali for four days
but then let him go. No-one else has brought any complaints to us.' He also
said that he would take action if he found that our claim that Ali was using
the CO's name to terrorize or exploit the local inhabitants is made out.
Our
Recommendations: We want to place a few
recommendations on the basis of our on-site inquiry, interviews with related
persons and an analysis of the situation is as follows:
1. Establish an independent and
impartial Judicial Inquiry Commission, required to publish its report within a
fixed time period; prosecute and provide exemplary punishment to those found
responsible for the attacks;
2. Provide adequate compensation and
undertake prompt rehabilitation of persons affected during the arson attacks in
Sajek Union, including reconstruction of houses;
3. To release the three persons held
in the Baghaichori Army Camp;
4. To cease all Bangali settlements in
Sajek Union and the three Hill Districts;
5. In accordance with the CHT Accord
1997
a) To activate the Land Commission, to
review and settle all land disputes;
b) To withdraw army camps from the
CHT; and
c) To enable full functioning of the
civil administration, including through effective functioning of the CHT
Regional Council.
*****
The group of
citizens which conducted an on-site inquiry at Sajek Union in Baghaichori
Upazila in Rangamati District comprised of:
1.
Syed
Abul Maqsud, Writer, Journalist
2.
Ziauddin
Tareque Ali, Member, Shonmilito Shamajik Andolon
3.
Pankaj
Bhattacharya, Member, Shomilito Shamajik Andolon
4.
Shameema
Binte Rahman, Journalist
5.
Supriyo
Chakma, Prothom Alo, Rangamati
6.
Jewel
Dewan, Advocate, BLAST, Rangamati
7.
Rubayet
Ferdaus, Associate Professor,
8.
Sara
Hossain, Advocate, Supreme Court
9.
Abu
Ahmed Faizul Kabir, Investigator, Ain o Salish Kendra
10.
KCing
Marma, Student,
11.
Rajiv
Mir, Assistant Professor,
12.
Anirban
Saha, Investigator, Ain o Salish Kendra