Staff Reporter :
Bihari residents in Geneva Camp in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area have clashed with supporters of a local Councillor, centering the government’s decision to cut off power lines with the camp.
The clashes took place intermittently near Mostakim Kebab Restaurant on Saturday when the authorities attempted to disconnect power services with the camp.
At least 50 people, including 20 policemen, were injured during the clash. A youth known as Rocky Hossain, 22, was admitted to a city hospital.
Both of the parties blocked the road by setting tyres and other objects on fire while police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse them, locals said.
Police had to fire rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the residents, who have been protesting frequent load shading in the area, they said.
But the clash left around 20 policemen injured, said Anisur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (Tejgaon division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
Thousands of residents attacked the law enforcers and also used brickbats, forcing them to retaliate, he said.
The law enforcers fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them, the DC said.
Around 11:30am, the dwellers of Geneva camp blockaded Shahjahan road in Moahammadpur area for the second day, protesting frequent power outages, witnesses said.
Hearing the road blockade, Mizan, a Councillor of ward No. 32, went to visit them at 12:30pm. But as soon as he reached there, the residents locked into an altercation with him, they said.
They beat up the councillor, according to them.
On information, police rushed to the spot and tried to rescue him, they added. Later, police conducted a drive in the camp and detained at least nine people from the spot, according to them.
The Geneva Camp residents are facing frequent load shedding as they have Tk 32 crore due to Dhaka Power Distributor Company (DPDC), Police sources aid.
Asked about it, Md Shahid, one of the Bihari leaders, claimed that they never paid any electricity bill as it was taken care of by the United Nation (UN). Every day, we are facing around 10 hours of power outage, he said.
“They (residents) are suffering from the lack of continuous electricity supply at the camp over the past few days,” said ‘Jafar’, a resident of Geneva Camp.
“We have to suffer from load shedding for almost the entire day. The Disaster Management and Relief Ministry used to pay the electricity bill for Geneva Camp. Now they said they will not do so. Power supply has been infrequent since then,” he added.
“Electricity costs Tk 12 million per month at Geneva Camp. As the ministry refused to pay the bill, Tk 340 million remains unpaid. This is leading to the frequent load shedding,” said Habibur Rahman Mizan, the local ward councillor.
The Disaster Management and Relief Ministry did not comment on the outstanding bill.
Geneva Camp in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur is a colony of the stranded Pakistanis who migrated to the then East Pakistan from the Indian state of Bihar during the partition of 1947.
The Urdu-speaking Muslims have been living there since the end of the 1971 War of Liberation. The camp, one of the 70 camps all over Bangladesh, is a densely-populated settlement of more than one lakh Biharis.
