Army beats innocent Jummas, grabs land

chtnews.com
News No. 19/2008, February 08, 2008

Eleven Jumma villagers were beaten by army as attempts to grab land and expansion of illegal Bengali settlement failed.

On 3 February, army personnel from Dui Tila camp under Baghaihat zone in Rangamati district detained and tortured the villagers for protesting against the illegal grabbing of their land in January.

The victims have been identified as Chitta Ranjan Chakma s/o Shashi Bhushon Chakma, Guno Sindhu Chakma s/o Krishna Mohan Chakma, Debabrata Chakma s/o Krishna Mohan Chakma, Doya Chand Chakma s/o Ranga Mohan Chakma, Bhadra Sen Chakma s/o Chulo Moni Chakma, Rangabattya Chakma s/o Sudhan Chandra Chakma, Satta Kumar Chakma s/o Leppe Chakma, Sunil Moy Chakma s/o Indra Sen Chakma, Babudhan Chakma s/o Satta Kumar Chakma, Jagadish Chakma s/o Jiodhar Chakma and Subal Chakma s/o Reboti Ranjan Chakma.

They were released the following day after torture.

Dui Tila, also known as Kshetrapur village, is about 12km south-west of Dighinala and sits on Dighinala - Marishya road.

The villagers alleged that the army is also searching for 8 other Jummas for arrest. They are Bijoy Lal Chakma, Shambhu Muni Chakma, Natim Chakma, Suresh Chakma, Chandra Mohan Chakma, Bibra Kanti Chakma, Shashi Punnyo Chakma and Birendra Lal Chakma.

Land grabbing
In a memorandum submitted to the Special Assistant to Chief Adviser in charge of Chittagong Hill Tract Ministry, Barrister Debasish Roy, the villagers of Dui Tila area alleged that their lands were taken away by force for the settlement of illegal settlers after destroying standing banana plantations.

When the Jumma land owners protested, the settlers told them that they were building houses as per instruction from commander of Baghaihat zone in Rangamati district.

On 17 January, the Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Bagahichari ordered Abdul Matin, a settler, to stop construction of houses and see him at his office. When asked, Abdul Matin told the UNO that the Baghaihat zone commander gave the order to grab the Jumma's land and expand Bengali settlement there.

Before the intervention of the UNO, the settlers had build about 10 houses with thatch and bamboo. The UNO himself oversaw the demolition of a few houses on the spot while the army broke down the remaining houses by the night.