Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Thursday asked the administration to allow the Santal people to harvest paddy from the land at Bagda Farm in Rangpur Sugar Mill area in Gobindaganj upazila.
If anyone already harvested the paddy, the local administration will take steps to get the crops returned to them, the HC said in its order. If necessary, the administration itself will harvest the paddy for the Santals, the court added.
A HC bench comprising Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath passed the order after a preliminary hearing on a writ petition filed by three organisations.
Moreover, the HC directed the government to ensure security and free movements of the Santal people.
Besides, it also asked the Officer-in-Charge of Gobindaganj Police Station, Superintendent of Gaibandha Police and Deputy Commissioner of the district administration to submit a report in 10 days on the steps taken in connection with the incident of attack on Santal people.
The HC issued a rule upon the authorities to explain as to why their inaction about security to the Santal people should not be declared illegal.
Advocate Z I Khan Panna and A M Amin Uddin stood for the petitioners, while Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Saju represented the State.
Earlier, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Association for Land Reforms and Development (ALRD), and Brotee Samaj Kallyan Sangstha jointly filed the writ with the High Court on Wednesday challenging the legality of police firing on Santal people during a clash with the law enforcers and workers of Rangpur Sugar Mill.
On November 6, a clash ensued at Shahebganj cane farm belonging to the Rangpur Sugar Mills located in Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha over harvesting sugarcane. The clash left two Santals dead and 25 people, including nine cops, injured.
Law enforces fired rubber bullets and lobbed teargas canisters to disperse the confronting groups. The Santal people shot arrows into the police and the Mills workers injuring nine of them. Santal community in the area has long been demanding ownership of the land, which the government acquired from them to cultivate sugarcane for the mills.
