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BANGLADESH: Around 30 lower caste families in the Hindu community face eviction in Chittagong

December 8, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal General: AHRC-UAG-002-2009



8 December 2009
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BANGLADESH: Around 30 lower caste families in the Hindu community face eviction in Chittagong

ISSUES: Caste; minorities; right to property and adequate housing
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned about the eviction risk faced by around 300 people of a lower caste Hindu community in Chittagong, without adequate compensation or rehabilitation being arranged. The land will be seized for the government-led Patiya Bypass project, yet the community is very poor and residents have not been given the education or training necessary to know how to move or make a living elsewhere. Compensation has been offered, but it is inadequate and has not been offered in writing. To avoid creating a larger group of internally displaced people in Bangladesh the government must make a clear framework for such relocations, taking the rehabilitation of the tenants into account. This community is in need of particularly urgent protection.

CASE DETAILS:

On 15 September 2009 the District Administration of Chittagong served a notice (PDF) to the residents of Nathpara, Karol village, asking that they claim official ownership before 14 October 2009. The residents did not respond and several evictions attempts have followed, by the Patiya police and assisted by the Chittagong and Patiya Upazilla representatives. All were met with protests (see the video below and here).



The 300 residents claim a strong ancestral and craft history. Its members have been making a living by weaving domestic house-mats from nearby aquatic plants for generations, and say that if they move they will also lose their livelihoods (see video footage of the village here). They allege that an adequate rehabilitation policy has not been offered, but rather a lump sum of 50,000 takas, which will not cover the costs of purchasing land in the area. The authorities have reportedly not offered documents promising this compensation, which they must do by law.

The Nathpara inhabitants believe that they are being targeted and exploited because they are a low caste minority group. Like many such groups in Bangladesh, this one has been marginalised; the majority of its members survive on less than US$.0.5 per day, receive no social security benefits from the government and have very limited access to education, health and sanitation facilities. The new development will improve infrastructure in the area, but will only disadvantage this group. There is a strong chance that they will become internally displaced, unable to support themselves or to find affordable plots of land. Many residents are also unable to produce the necessary ownership papers, though the land has been inhabited by their families for more than a century.

Two community leaders, Mr. Srimat Subashananda Abdhuth and Mr. Dilip De, have alleged that the community is being targeted. The original bypass plan (1991-1996) passed straight from Patiya Indra Pol Bridge to Kocuayi Girish Chowdhury Market over agricultural land, and a revised plan curves to travel across their homestead, depriving them of their right to housing and security. They claim that they have not received any response to the formal letters they have sent to the country director of the Asian Development Bank, which is funding the project, or from the team leader of Roughton International, which is an implementing partner.

In recent weeks a group of community representatives have met and received verbal assurances from the incumbent minister and secretary of the Communications Ministry. However the local administration, with police, continues to visit the village regularly to urge residents to leave.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Plans for the Patiya Bypass have been underway since the nineties, managed by the Roads and Highways department under the Ministry of Communications; it will connect Chittagong with Cox’s Bazar, which is another costal town at the southeast corner of the country. The project is officially called RNIMP-2 and the plan has been revised under the new government.

There is a large gap between the published market price and the actual price of land plots in the area – as in the rest of the country. Property developers are consistently accused of under-pricing land to reduce tax payments. Therefore calculated compensation amounts, while enough on paper, are rarely enough to secure a family a new plot, or materials to build their home. According to the governmental records the official price of an acre of land in this area is around 100,000 Takas, yet they are allegedly being sold for around 10 million Takas.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the concerned authorities requesting their review of the Patiya Bypass construction plan, and should it go ahead, requesting their arrangement of a rehabilitation and compensation package for the current residents. Please also demand that the government creates a clear framework for such future procedures.

The AHRC has also written letters to the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing and Independent Expert on Minority Issues urging their intervention into this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear _________,

BANGLADESH: Around 30 lower caste families in the Hindu community face eviction in Chittagong

The community at risk: Low caste; Hindu; Nathpara community in Karal village, under the Patiya police station in Chittagong district.
The authorities involved: The Ministry of Communication, the Patiya police and representatives from Chittagong and Patiya Upazilla.

I am writing to express my grave concern over the prevailing risk of eviction faced by around 300 members of a lower caste Hindu community in Nathpara, Karal village in Chittagong. The government is constructing a six kilometer bypass road via Patiya town across the area, however the authorities allegedly have not laid out a comprehensive scheme for the community's rehabilitation and compensation, prior to serving the eviction notice, should residents relocate.

According to the information I have received, the Roads and Highways Department (under the Ministry of Communications) have been planning the Chittagong to Cox’s Bazar highway since the1990s – officially known as RNIMP-2 – and in a recent change, have included land occupied by the Nathpara area of Karal village. A lump sum of 50,000 Takas has been offered to the current residents, which will not cover the costs of purchasing land in the area. There is usually a large gap between the published market price and the actual price of land plots in the country. In this area according to the governmental records, the official price of an acre of land is around 100,000 Takas, yet they are allegedly being sold for around 10 million Takas.

The 300 residents claim a strong ancestral and craft history; their families have been making a living by weaving domestic house-mats from nearby aquatic plants for generations, and say that if they move they will lose their livelihoods. As a low caste minority group, the residents also believe that they are being exploited, and possibly targeted in collusion with prominent social groups. Most of the members survive on less than US$.0.5 per day, receive no social security benefits from the government and have very limited access to education, health and sanitation facilities.

The new development will improve infrastructure in the area, but will not only disadvantage this group. There is a strong chance that they will become internally displaced; unable to support themselves or to find plots of land cheap enough to buy. Many residents are also unable to produce the necessary ownership papers, though the land has been inhabited by their families for more than a century.

Two community leaders, Mr. Srimat Subashananda Abdhuth and Mr. Dilip De, claim to not have received any response from formal letters sent to the country director of the Asian Development Bank, which is funding the project, or from the team leader of Roughton International, which is an implementing partner.
In recent weeks a group of their representatives have met and received verbal assurances from the incumbent minister and secretary of the Communications Ministry. However the local administration, with police, continues to visit the village regularly to urge residents to leave.

While I am fully aware that the government has constitutionally empowered to acquire lands for development of the country’s infrastructure, I want to voice my concern about the protection of the right to adequate housing, particularly for underprivileged communities, which is enshrined in the Constitution of Bangladesh. I urge you to investigate the concerns of the area's inhabitants and review the construction plan. Each family should be afforded the greatest possible level of rehabilitation and resources, to allow their relocation to similar homes and neighbourhoods in the district.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Mrs. Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Tejgaon, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 811 3244 / 3243 / 1015 / 1490
Tel: +880 2 882 816 079 / 988 8677
E-mail: pm@pmo.gov.bd or ps1topm@pmo.gov.bd or psecy@pmo.gov.bd

2. Mr. Syed Abul Hossain MP
Minister
Ministry of Communications
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 7164977
Fax: +880 2 7166636
E-mail: minister@moc.gov.bd

3. Mr. Md. Mozammel Haque Khan
Secretary
Ministry of Communications
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 7152866
Fax: +880 2 9553900
E-mail: secretary@moc.gov.bd

4. Justice Amirul Kabir Chowdhury
Chairman
National Human Rights Commission
6/3 Lalmatia, Block-D
Dhaka-1207
BANGLADESH
Telefax: +880 2 9137743

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal General
Document ID :
AHRC-UAG-002-2009
Countries :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.