A section of hill people grabbing Bengali lands in name of erecting temples, tense prevailing the area
Staff Reporter:
Hill people and Bengalese are now satanding face to face centering on grabbing the disputed abandoned land at Manikchari Bakripara, Manadhanpara, Gabamara, Wakchari, and Halfchari in Khagrachari district. Some are grabbing hundreds of acres land in the name of temple building and some are engaged to newer gardens for capturing lands. People become restless for this illegal behavior and are becoming angry for this. Higher officials of administration visited the areas physically could guess the resentment of the people.
Police and local sources said, from 1983 to 84, nearly 200 Bengali families are living at Bakripara, Manadhanapara, Gabamara, Oakachari, Halphachari area in Manichari. They have the home-stead with them. Under the pretext of security, once government shifted these cluster families from that areas and taking the scope the hill people grabbed the lands illegally. Though these lands are treated to Bengali as abandoned, still the hill people began to sell the lands to others.
A purchaser is Monk Bhante Bodhi Ranta who without taking any document and legal papers, purchased the abandoned lands and tried to build religious KIYANG.
Monk Bodhi is not a local monk; he came from Rauzan. He could not give answer to a question of local security forces that actually which temple belongs to him. He simply avoided giving answer to this question and keeps silent to these words.
He chose to capture the land on that day which is treated seize day of Land Protection Committee of SAJEK .Security forces were busy to perform duties on SAJEK program so that no untoward situation arose. Taking opportunity of the weak point of security forces, the 200 hundred hill people led by Monk Bodhi came to the place of occurrence for erecting a temporary Qiang.
Recently, few tribal came to disputed areas and hoisted flags manifesting that these lands are to them. This incidence spreads tense across the areas and the hill people try to build garden in the name of religion and at the same time they create house there for treating as living abode. Observing this dispute nearly every day security forces patrol there and quell the tense but the hill people do not stop to erect and build their installations. Bengalese feels panic at this expressing their grief saying this that the hill people are grabbing their own legal lands illegally. As a result, panic is prevailing in these areas.
Meanwhile, from Sunday morning, another armed over two hundred tribal came to the area with escort; they began to cut jungles and began to build houses to live in. Having the sensitive news, over one hundred Bengali came there to resist them at 11 am on Sunday. Tense was prevailing for this situation. At the time, the terrorists opened fire from the jungle for creating panic. Monk Bodhi told all that he purchased the place here to build the temple. They are now working on the creation of cutting down the forest.
Manikchharhi Sadar UP chairman and Gacchabil cluster village’s resident Abul Kalam said, the cluster village is their possession and once they lived there what now abandoned. Tribals are recently tried to take advantage of the land and some parts of the garden have been created. Bengalis are in the midst of panic. He condemned the incident and demanded a fair investigation.
On having the information, Upazilla Executive Officer Zuthika Sarkar , Khagrachharhi Additional Superintendent of Police Mohammad Enayat Hussain Mannan, Circle ASP (Ramgarh) Younus Ali Miah along with security forces visited the area and ordered to maintain the state of the situation. After Eid-ul-fitre, the subject will be dissolved by consultation of two sides. After checking the records of the land, it will determine ownership.
