OVER 400 Dalit families who traditionally work as the sweeper and cleaner under the city corporation have sought speedy resettlement of their residence dislodged from the Ganaktuli City Corporation Colony at Hazaribag. Knocking down the residence without maintaining alternative shelters has pushed the discriminated people to stay under the open sky. The citizens but marginalised and ‘untouchable’ families said that the contractor began demolishing their old homes before the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) paid them compensations so that they could build temporary shelters near the Beribandh.
The dislodged people being failed to find rented shelters in the middle of the month either took shelter at overcrowded community centre inside the old colony or moved to relatives’ homes. According to colony dwellers, 451 families with around two thousand members were enlisted by the DSCC for temporary resettlement near the Beribandh at Kamrangirchar. In August, the DSCC had issued separate cheques of Tk 45,000 as compensation to cleaners working for the DSCC and cheques for payment of Tk 20,000 as compensations to cleaners working elsewhere. Out of 451 cleaners’ families, 140 families did not get the compensations.
As an excluded community, Dalits generally do not get equal treatment and legal protection from the law, as most cases are settled or negotiated through informal authorities often arbitrarily or on a discriminatory basis. Backward in outlook they are mostly illiterate falling prey to child-marriage, dowry and superstitious behaviour in general. Sometimes they face severe forms of human rights violations, including abduction, rape, torture, destruction of houses, land grabbing, eviction from land, threats and intimidation. Without inclusive development in fundamental needs in health, education, and housing, overall development will be in limbo.
The authorities concerned should formulate a special commission to oversee the developmental affairs of the Dalits community. The exclusion of the Dalits by the state and the society is the sharp violation of the Constitution which forbids discrimination for caste and class. Leaving some people behind the development could not be sustainable. A thorough investigation is needed whether there’s any misappropriation in the compensation disbursement.
