Reza Mahmud :
The Railway Authority evicted slums and houses of small traders from the Gendaria-Jurain area beside the Dhaka-Narayangonj Railway line in October 2015. But the situation has not improved as the evicted area has been newly colonized. On the other hand, the homeless slum people are still wandering in at Gandaria and Jurain in absence of new habitation. They could not recover their losses.
When contacted, the Director General of Bangladesh Railway, Md. Amjad Hossain told The New Nation, “We are trying to free all the Railway lands from encroachers. It is an ongoing process. No one should live in the
Railway land.”
“What was our fault? Why did the Railway administration evict us from our longtime occupation instead of giving us more time to find out new habitation? What was the reason? Even now the area has not remained vacant! New people are there,
new slums are built. If it, why were we evicted? It is not justice,” said, Abul Hossain, a 55-year-old man evicted from neighbouring slum of Gandaria Railway Station.
Another evicted man Shamsul Alam said, we used to live in the slum paying rent monthly basis. Local political leaders and other influential persons grabbing the Railway land rented to us near the Railway lines. They built houses there and rented to the poor people, for use as shops or workshops.
A resident of that area described the eviction horror to The New Nation. He said, a woman named Marzina, who returned from the Middle East, lived in the slum with her family. She requested to the rail officials to give her time so that she could to evacuate her belongings. But the plea was not accepted. The bulldozer vandalized her households especially her hard-earned refrigerator. She was crying, but no one was there to show sympathy to her.
Some slums and small tin-shed houses were spared during the eviction. Those are being used now by the poor people. New furniture shops restaurants, rickshaw garage and other small workshops have been built.
When asked, they said, we are new residents. Some evicted slum dwellers also returned there on condition of paying higher rent than before. The same grabbers rented the houses to them.
Ratan Sikdar, one of the residents living there, said, his family was also evicted. The Railway authority evicted the east side of the Railway line from the Gandaria Station Mosque to the Doyagonj rail crossing.
“Why were the other slums and workshops and rickshaw garages unaffected? They vandalized our hard-earned materials without showing any mercy. They ignored our females and children’s crying, they humiliated all of our families,” said Sujan Mian, a small wood businessman there. He said, the Railway officials said that the government would build Railway lines from Dhaka to Jessore via Mawa point. We requested them to grant more time, but they did not accept our prayers. Are not we the citizens of the country? They asked.
The Railway Authority evicted slums and houses of small traders from the Gendaria-Jurain area beside the Dhaka-Narayangonj Railway line in October 2015. But the situation has not improved as the evicted area has been newly colonized. On the other hand, the homeless slum people are still wandering in at Gandaria and Jurain in absence of new habitation. They could not recover their losses.
When contacted, the Director General of Bangladesh Railway, Md. Amjad Hossain told The New Nation, “We are trying to free all the Railway lands from encroachers. It is an ongoing process. No one should live in the
Railway land.”
“What was our fault? Why did the Railway administration evict us from our longtime occupation instead of giving us more time to find out new habitation? What was the reason? Even now the area has not remained vacant! New people are there,
new slums are built. If it, why were we evicted? It is not justice,” said, Abul Hossain, a 55-year-old man evicted from neighbouring slum of Gandaria Railway Station.
Another evicted man Shamsul Alam said, we used to live in the slum paying rent monthly basis. Local political leaders and other influential persons grabbing the Railway land rented to us near the Railway lines. They built houses there and rented to the poor people, for use as shops or workshops.
A resident of that area described the eviction horror to The New Nation. He said, a woman named Marzina, who returned from the Middle East, lived in the slum with her family. She requested to the rail officials to give her time so that she could to evacuate her belongings. But the plea was not accepted. The bulldozer vandalized her households especially her hard-earned refrigerator. She was crying, but no one was there to show sympathy to her.
Some slums and small tin-shed houses were spared during the eviction. Those are being used now by the poor people. New furniture shops restaurants, rickshaw garage and other small workshops have been built.
When asked, they said, we are new residents. Some evicted slum dwellers also returned there on condition of paying higher rent than before. The same grabbers rented the houses to them.
Ratan Sikdar, one of the residents living there, said, his family was also evicted. The Railway authority evicted the east side of the Railway line from the Gandaria Station Mosque to the Doyagonj rail crossing.
“Why were the other slums and workshops and rickshaw garages unaffected? They vandalized our hard-earned materials without showing any mercy. They ignored our females and children’s crying, they humiliated all of our families,” said Sujan Mian, a small wood businessman there. He said, the Railway officials said that the government would build Railway lines from Dhaka to Jessore via Mawa point. We requested them to grant more time, but they did not accept our prayers. Are not we the citizens of the country? They asked.
