5 years later, justice still elusive for Gaibandha Santals
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
5 years later, justice still elusive for Gaibandha Santals

Bangladesh

Yashab Osama Rahman
06 November, 2021, 01:30 pm
Last modified: 06 November, 2021, 01:30 pm

Related News

  • A lawyer daughter’s 16-year legal battle seeking justice for her slain father
  • PM hails justice department for protecting people’s democratic rights
  • Activists call for strengthening democracy, justice system to end extrajudicial killings  
  • History will remember Justice Murshed
  • The essence of time in the concept of justice

5 years later, justice still elusive for Gaibandha Santals

Yashab Osama Rahman
06 November, 2021, 01:30 pm
Last modified: 06 November, 2021, 01:30 pm
A Santal woman outside her house in Gabindaganj upazila of Gaibanda. A poster announcing a protest by the community is prominently displayed in the background. Photo: Yashab Osama Rahman
A Santal woman outside her house in Gabindaganj upazila of Gaibanda. A poster announcing a protest by the community is prominently displayed in the background. Photo: Yashab Osama Rahman

Philimon Baske stares distantly at the expanse ahead of him. Around 1,800-acre land has been home to him and his people for as long as he knows.

The president of the Shahebganj-Bagda Farm Bhumi Uddhar Songram Committee, Philimon also bears the burden of a great responsibility – he must bring justice for his people. He and the other Santals in Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha district are under siege. Their ancestral land has been chosen as the spot for the latest export processing zone.

Five years ago, police and workers of the Rangpur Sugar Mills, the establishment located on the Santal land, swooped on protesting Santals who were trying to save their land from being taken. The ensuing clash led to the killing of three Santals.

Since then, the ethnic community has marked 6 November with demonstrations. They have repeatedly called for justice over the killings, but the demands have gone unheeded.

Their claim on the land has also been brushed aside.

The idea of rehabilitation has been mooted, but the Santals reject this.

"We are not used to living in brick homes or living in colonies. The government knows this. We want to stay on our land. It is ours. We own this," Philimon declares.

The silent rebellion

The entry to these hallowed Santal lands is one narrow dirt road which snakes through golden and green paddy fields.

There's nothing declaring who dwells on this land, but there are a few markers.

It could be the odd location of a house made entirely out of sheets of corrugated steel jutting out of the field and breaking the monotony of the green expanse.

It could also be the men carrying bows and arrows, the Santals' traditional hunting – and fighting – tools.

A dead giveaway, however, are the posters.

Almost each of the Santal homes sport a poster, which tells of the ills committed against the ethnic community and invites readers to join the protests against this injustice.

These tin-homes, importantly, are not the dwelling of choice.

"We always had large trees surrounding our homesteads. But they came and tore all the trees down. Now we have no shade," Shukpal Hemron, 84, says.

There's no anger in his slightly, trembling voice; only pain.

"When it is winter, it is too cold to stay still. When it is hot, you cannot stay inside the house.

"When the prime minister said no land should lie idle, we toiled day and night. Our entire history has been feeding people. Now, our backs are breaking. How long can we remain standing?" he asks.

Can Hemron see a better life elsewhere? No, he shrugs his head, the sudden, subtle gesture of defiance reinvigorating him.

"This world is no longer for me. Death is better than living like this," he says.

"We were zamindars once. Our forefathers gave us this land. Are their souls at rest now? Their souls are crying. We will die for this land."

Death over dishonour is something familiar to the Santals. The Santal Rebellion of 1855, when the community took up its bows and arrows against the mightier British forces and lost, has been etched into the tribe's history. It has also shaped their culture, while becoming an everlasting pool of pride.

The Santals would fight once more during the Liberation War, when they rained down arrows on Pakistani forces stationed in Rangpur cantonment.

In an article penned by English writer Charles Dickson almost two centuries ago, he waxed lyrical about the honour of the Santal people. He wrote that while the Santal used poisoned arrows when hunting, they would never do so against their foes.

The Santals were said to have taken up arms once again on 6 November 2014. This account, however, is disputed. The main story goes back much earlier.

In 1962, 1,840 acres of land possessed by local Santals and Bangalees were acquired to set up the Rangpur Sugar Mills at Gobindaganj's Bagda area.

As per the agreement, the land was meant for sugarcane cultivation. Otherwise, the land would be returned to the local owners with proper compensation.

However, after the sugar mill was shut down in 2004, the land was leased to influential people who started cultivating other crops such as rice, wheat, mustard, maize and tobacco.

When the Santals came to learn about the violation of the agreement, they reportedly built houses there.

When the affected locals started protesting, a false case was filed against them.

On 6 November 2016, the Santals alleged that the police, local administration, local influential people and mill staff attacked to evict them.

Into the lair

Asking some of the Santal men about the cases against them, one can almost be forgiven for thinking he is surrounded by criminals.

Shukpal Hemron has seven cases against him, including for looting and vandalism. Philimon has nine cases.

Majhi Hemron, 70, has three cases against him. Wearing thick glasses, he laughs when asked about the cases. He points to the bullet wounds on his arm and his abdomen.

"I don't remember the year it happened. But it was during a protest. Police stopped us and asked us to disperse. Before we could do so, we heard shots being fired. I got shot and fell. My friend Tomas rescued me.

"If I had my bow, I would have shot back. I would have to. What could I do? I would have to find a way to be safe," he says.

Asked about the cases against him, he again breaks into a grin, "They said I mugged a police officer of his weapon. Can you imagine that? Also, the day they said I did it, I was in jail."

This disclosure brings guffaws from the surrounding men and women.

The trials are still ongoing and these men have to attend the hearings at the Gaibandha court.

At this point Shukpal interjects. "We don't ever fight amongst ourselves. We all know which parcel of land belongs to whom. We shouldn't have to fight for our own land."

As the sun beats down on the gathering, Philimon ushers everyone towards the Santal village nearby. The village is in undisputed lands. Mud homes, ponds, and ample shade make the entire village a very inviting place.

This is how the Santal live and want to live. But for now that seems to be a dream.

The Santal men and women soon return to cultivate their land. They have not been stopped from doing so in a while. More houses have gone up, but the bulldozers haven't arrived either.

The community, however, believe it is only a matter of time. This, perhaps, is the silence before the storm.

Top News

Gaibandha / Santals / Justice / Rangpur Sugar Mills

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • All banks have to sell dollars at same rate
    All banks have to sell dollars at same rate
  • Ctg port Asia’s least efficient for container handling: World Bank
    Ctg port Asia’s least efficient for container handling: World Bank
  • Photo: Bloomberg
    Bigger food crisis can be averted if Asia remembers not to panic

MOST VIEWED

  • Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi
    Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi
  • Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
    Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
  • Photo: Collected
    BSEC seeks explanations from Shakib Al Hasan on entering gold venture
  • Project delays: The Sinohydro case
    Project delays: The Sinohydro case
  • Photo: Collected
    It's a rumour, no Monkeypox patient detected at BSMMU: VC
  • File Photo
    Engineer found dead at Intercontinental Dhaka

Related News

  • A lawyer daughter’s 16-year legal battle seeking justice for her slain father
  • PM hails justice department for protecting people’s democratic rights
  • Activists call for strengthening democracy, justice system to end extrajudicial killings  
  • History will remember Justice Murshed
  • The essence of time in the concept of justice

Features

Photo caption: Business models are already being hit by climate risk. It is the function of regulators to force banks to pay attention to the future risks to businesses. Photo: Bloomberg

HSBC and its discordant climate songbook

14h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Should Belayets be allowed to return to school at 55?

19h | Pursuit
Impact Hub Dhaka is designed to cater to connectivity, offering lots of communal areas where you can chat over coffee, watch a webinar as a group or even host events. Photo: Courtesy

Inside Impact Hub: The surprising benefits of working in a co-working space

19h | Pursuit
Pacific Jeans uses sustainable technology in washing and finishing, and now has the facility to wash with zero water. Photo: Courtesy

How big dreams and smart investment made Pacific Jeans a denim exporting giant 

21h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Inflation changes lives of limited-income people

Inflation changes lives of limited-income people

7h | Videos
 Vat on locally-made mobile phones, fridges may increase prices

Vat on locally-made mobile phones, fridges may increase prices

8h | Videos
Local brands dominate country’s refrigerator market

Local brands dominate country’s refrigerator market

8h | Videos
5 latest exciting movies

5 latest exciting movies

13h | Videos

Most Read

1
Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge
Bangladesh

Tk100 for bike, Tk2,400 for bus to cross Padma Bridge

2
Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi
Bangladesh

Bangladesh at risk of losing ownership of Banglar Samriddhi

3
Corporates go cashless…tax cut on cards
NBR

Corporates go cashless…tax cut on cards

4
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

Misfit Technologies: A Singaporean startup rooted firmly in Bangladesh

5
BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies
Stocks

BSEC launches probe against Abul Khayer Hero and allies

6
Illustration: TBS
Banking

Let taka slide

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab