Staff Reporter :
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Wednesday said the government will build homes for the members of Santal community who have lost their dwellings during the recent clash in Gobindaganj of Gaibandha district.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered the concerned authorities to build homes for the members of Santal community who were evicted from the lands of Rangpur Sugar Mills. The concerned departments have also got order in this regard,” he said after attending a meeting at Secretariat about security preparations on the Victory Day.
The clash erupted on November 6 with the Santal community when the mill workers with the help of hired day labourers started harvesting sugarcane on the land belonging to the mills.
The Pakistan government in 1952 acquired 1,840 acres of land at Shahebganj to set up a sugarcane farm. Later, the Deputy Commissioner’s office acquired the land for the then Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation, which established Mahimaganj Sugar Mills between 1954 and 1957.
According to the information available, the original land owners were given only Tk 8.07 lakh for the vast land. The DC office signed an agreement with the corporation in 1962 on behalf of the land owners.
As per the deal, the land was acquired for cultivation of sugarcane by the mill authorities. And if the land was used for farming any other crops, the corporation shall surrender the land to the government.
The agreement, however, was violated as the mill authorities leased out most of the land for cultivation of other crops like rice, wheat, mustard, tobacco, and maize.
The Home Minister also answered questions about the affected Hindu families at Nasirnagar in Brahmanbaria.
“There was no internal conflict behind the attack on Hindu community at Nasirnagar. If there was any sign of intra-party conflict behind the incident, I would surely inform it to the Prime Minister… Now; somebody is trying to spread this theory intentionally,” Kamal said.
About the progress of the investigation, he said: “The investigation is still going on about the Nasirnagar attack. Separate teams are investigating into the matter. It is not possible to say something about the findings until the investigation is completed.”
Issuing warning, the Minister said: “Appropriate action will be taken against them, whoever will be found guilty in Nasirnagar incident. So far as I think, it was a part of deep-rooted conspiracy engineered by a vested quarter.”
“We haven’t got any evidence about the involvement of Awami League men in arson and vandalizing temples and houses of Hindu community,” he said.
Meanwhile, the members of Hindu community on Wednesday immersed the broken idols of 10 temples, including Gour, Loknath, Jagannath and Shahshan Kali Mandir, in presence of local UNO and OC.
Local sources said, the idols were immersed ahead of the “long march” programme to Nasirnagar on November 18 announced by some organizations at Shahbagh in the city on Monday.
“The idols of the goddesses were immersed after consultation with temple committees and local people of Hindu community. We will provide full-fledged help from the upazila administration to repair the temples,” Md Liakat Ali, UNO of Nasirnagar, said.
