[Reader-list] Sajek: Is This My Country?

[Shambhu Rahmat]

"When traveling from Khagrachari to Baghaihat in Baghaichori located
at the end of Rangamati upto Gongaram Mukh, any ordinary citizen would
wonder 'Is this my country'? Because of the intensity of army
checking. There is very tight screening there.  The names of whoever
enters or exits the area is written down. Each such person has to give
their identity. The car numbers are noted. And on leaving the area,
that number is again checked. We thought it was important to ask how
such an arson attack could take place in the midst of such close
monitoring."


http://www.drishtipat.org/blog/2008/05/04/sajek/
Embargoed until 11am, 5 May 2008

PRESS STATEMENT
SAJEK'S BURNT VILLAGES:
CITIZEN'S TEAM CALLS FOR INQUIRY AND URGENT RELIEF

A group of citizens conducted an on-site inquiry on 28th and 29th
April 2008 in Sajek Union, Rangamati District, following press reports
of about 150 houses being burnt down across seven villages in the
area. On arrival in the area, we saw that in eight villages within the
reserved forest area in Sajek Union -- Nursery Para, Daney
Bhaibachora,  Bamey Bhaibachora, Purbopara, Balughatpara, Retkaba, MSF
Para and Gongaram Mukh – the mostly Pahari houses which had been burnt
down to the ground remained just as they were. The charred remains of
burnt houses could be seen across a four kilometer long area. Many
people are still in hiding. Others told us that several persons were
injured during this incident. People do not have proper shelter, and
some remain under open skies.

During the on-site inquiry, we spoke to victims and witnesses among
both Paharis and Bangalis, other local persons, and to Army personnel,
to clarify what had happened. Today we will attempt to outline for you
the situation we witnessed, the main causes behind it, and the
required action which we believe is necessary at this point. Those of
us who visited the area at our own cost did so because we believed
that the full facts of what had occurred in Baghaichori, a remote
hilly area, had not been fully covered in the national media.
*****
To date, no official record appears to have been made of exactly how
many houses were burnt down, or how many people affected. According to
news reports, about 150 to 200 families have been affected, of whom
most are Chakmas. Speaking to victims and eyewitnesses of the
incident, we came to learn that on 20th April from about 9pm till
early morning houses in the area, mostly belonging to Paharis, and
some to Bangali Settlers, with most of their contents including
cooking utensils, books, clothes, were burnt to ashes.

Several Chakma inhabitants of the area described how they stood aside
in fear, as their houses were burnt to the ground.
•	A Chakma inhabitant of Balurghat Para village, aged 45/50, stated
'Our rice, clothes, pots-pans-plates have all been burnt. School
books, birth registration certificates, SSC certificates, they're all
totally burnt.'
•	Several eyewitnesses and victims mentioned that valuables were
looted by those who burnt down the houses. A Chakma inhabitant of
Daney Bhaibachora village, aged 35/40, ran out of his home on hearing
screaming at about 9.45pm on 20th April, to see a house was burning
and people shouting to be saved from the flames. His whole house had
been burnt to ashes. Only the charred remains of the wooden pillars
could be seen. He stated, 'The people who were setting things alight,
they first took out from our homes, the TVs, beds, wardrobes, whatever
they found, they looted, and at the end they torched the houses. Those
who set the houses alight. They took everything. 'Another Chakma woman
stated, 'I've heard that a TV was found in the Bangali Para. The Army
has said that they will return the TV'.
•	An elderly Chakma, aged about 80 'I've never faced such misery
(oshanti) before.' In this home, there are two school going students
in this family, one studying for the SSC and another in class seven,
whose books have all been burnt and who cannot attend classes.
•	Another person said that the attackers had come in three vehicles.
•	The families of three young men who had been arrested on the night
of 27th April from Bamey Bhaibachora, claimed that they had been
wrongfully taken into custody instead of apprehending those actually
responsible. The three men detained at about 9pm were Ratan, aged
about 18, a student of Class IX of Baghaichori High School, and about
to sit for his SSC, son of Gunodhor Chakma and Sakuntala Chakma, of
Bamebaispara Village, Sunil, 22, son of Subisona Chakma and Lokkhidhor
Chakma, who is a signboard artist, and Nobel, about 22 years, son of
Nishimoni Chakma, who is a teacher at the NGO Poddokhep, from
Bamabaispara Bamebaishepara at about 9 to 10pm.  Their parents
asserted that they had all run to see what was happening, when they
saw a house burning from a distance on Monday 28th night.

Bangalis are also alleged to have put up huts after having broken down
the place of worship in Gongaram Mukh. Local residents said that even
after making a complaint to the local Army Camp, there has been no
action. After the fire, about 30/35 families came to take shelter at
the Baghaihat Moitripur Jogi Bono Bihara [Buddhist Temple].
•	The priest of the Bihara said 'I am ashamed to say this. I am also a
religious leader. This kind of incident has happened in my area.'

Some of the Bangalis affected also described the events of 20 April.
These Bangalis are known as 'settlers' to the local Paharis.
•	Md Rafiqul Islam came to Baghaichori about 10/11 years ago. He lives
in the Musulman Para. About two months ago, he put up a hut near the
Pahari houses in Gongaram Mukh. On the night of the incident, he said
he had heard the sounds 'Ujao, Ujao', and fled from his home in fear.
He said:  'Hearing the cries of Ujao Ujao coming closer, I fled and
took shelter in the army camp.' Another eyewitness, the General
Secretary of Baghaichori Bazaar Shomiti stated that 'On the night of
the incident, at about 9.45  I was in Major Hafiz's vehicle [as we
came out of the Camp, where there was an event going on for the
founding anniversary of the 2 B Regiment, on hearing a hullabaloo from
outside]. We heard the sounds 'Ujao, Ujao' and saw about 100/150
masked people wearing black clothes setting houses alight. They were
not local Paharis. They were outsiders.'

Victims' Accounts of the Background to the Arson Attacks: The vast
Sajek Union is located at one end of Rangamati District, and mainly
comprises of Reserved Forests. Any settlement in this area is
considered to be illegal. But many Paharis have lived in this area for
generations in accordance with their customary norms and without any
official title deeds.

Both Paharis and Bangalis noted as a cause of the incident that there
had been rising tension  in the area for about two months. The main
reason for this tension was that the Bangalis had been erecting houses
near or adjacent to the Pahari's houses. The same sight could be seen
all along the four kilometers of the main road between Baghaihat and
Gongaram. Next to the Pahari house or across it is a house of a
Bangali settler, in which no-one appears to stay or to sleep at night.
After talking to the Settler there, we learned that these huts have
been put up over the last two months or so. From the beginning the
Paharis could not accept that Bangalis would establish settlements on
their traditional lands. There had already been conflict and
confrontation over this issue. First the Paharis had objected to the
Bangalis erecting these buildings. Although the hut construction did
not end in the face of these protests, the tensions certainly
increased.

>From a visit to the area, it became evident that the fire could not
have spread from house to house given the sparse density of their
location, rather each house must have been separately set alight. For
example, we saw in Bhaibachora village that between two burnt down
Pahari houses a Bangali settler, Abul Malek and his mother in law
Anwara Begum were in residence. Even though the two Chakma houses
burnt down on 20th the hut in the middle did not.

Except for in Gongram Mukh, we could see that the Pahari homes had
been burnt to the ground, but next door or close by Bangali homes or
huts remained standing. This pattern indicated that whoever had been
responsible for the burnings had most likely planned the exercise,
identified the Pahari and Bangali houses and then set them alight.
Almost everyone mentioned two names, Ali and Babul, as being the ones
most involved with trying to displace the Paharis from the area
through fear. A Chakma inhabitant of Gongaram Mukh said that Ali and
some others had come to his shop on 19th April and threatened him that
if he remained there till after dusk, then they would burn him and the
shop down and kill his whole family. In fear, he sent his wife and
children to another house that very evening. On the next night, 20th
April, his house was burnt down. With tears in his eyes, this man
said, pointing to his torn short sleeved shirt and lungi, ' I've been
wearing these same clothes ever since the burnings'.

A Karbari from one village said 'If they see 2/3 of us talking to each
other, they inform the Army Camp.Another Pahari inhabitant of Gongaram
Mukh, unwilling to state his name, said 'We were told to put up our
houses about 2/3 km away from the road. The Settlers' houses would be
next to the road. Ali and his cronies said that they would slaughter
us like sacrificial cows if we said anything about it.'

It is true that the fires began because of the ongoing tensions
between Paharis and Bangalis, but in our view the reasons were deeper,
that is the construction of Bangali settlements here and pushing the
Paharis into an even more marginal and vulnerable existence. But it is
also true that most of the Bangalis who live in that area are
extremely poor, dependent on government rations. These marginal
people, from different districts of the country, are surviving there
on government patronization.

Relief and Rehabilitation: Relief has now been distributed in the area
on three occasions, most recently on the occasion of the visit by the
Army Chief on 29 April, when each affected person was given Taka 500
and some food (5 kg rice, 1 kg dal and 2 kg potatoes). On two earlier
occasions, Taka 500 had been given from the army and civilian
administration respectively. During the Army Chief's visit it was
announced that each family would be given Taka 10,000 for
reconstruction of their homes. Several of those we interviewed said
that this amount would not be adequate. Some Paharis alleged that
Bangali Settlers had been given more relief. We also saw a number of
Chakmas come back empty handed from the event.

Who is Responsible? When traveling from Khagrachari to Baghaihat in
Baghaichori located at the end of Rangamati upto Gongaram Mukh, any
ordinary citizen would wonder 'Is this my country'? Because of the
intensity of army checking. There is very tight screening there.  The
names of whoever enters or exits the area is written down. Each such
person has to give their identity. The car numbers are noted. And on
leaving the area, that number is again checked. We thought it was
important to ask how such an arson attack could take place in the
midst of such close monitoring.

We asked some of the Pahari victims, who do you think is responsible?
They said without any  hesitation that they saw Bangali settlers
burning down the houses, and the Army were with them. On the other
hand, the Bangali victims said that local Paharis were not involved
with the incident, but rather outsiders.

Army's Statement: We met with personnel at the Baghaihat Army Camp.
When asked about whether the Army Camp had any involvement with the
incidents, Commanding Officer Lt Col Imtiaz stated 'There is no
question of any connection. We heard the sounds 'Ujao! Ujao!'and
shouting and quickly went there. I sent forces. I also went there
myself. I would definitely say that outsider Paharis carried out this
terror, those who don't want to see Paharis and Bangalis living
together in peace and harmony'. He further informed us that it
appeared to him that prima facie the JSS or UPDF were responsible for
this incident. In response to a query about whether any action had
been taken re the activities of Ali and Babul, Lt Col Imtiaz further
stated that 'The Karbari of Gongaram Mukh, Bilash Chakma had raised a
complaint about threatening Mongol Kumar Chakma, and after that we
held Ali for four days but then let him go. No-one else has brought
any complaints to us.' He also said that he would take action if he
found that our claim that Ali was using the CO's name to terrorize or
exploit the local inhabitants is made out.

Our Recommendations: We want to place a few recommendations on the
basis of our on-site inquiry, interviews with related persons and an
analysis of the situation is as follows:
1.	Establish an independent and impartial Judicial Inquiry Commission,
required to publish its report within a fixed time period; prosecute
and provide exemplary punishment to those found responsible for the
attacks;
2.	Provide adequate compensation and undertake prompt rehabilitation
of persons affected during the arson attacks in Sajek Union, including
reconstruction of houses;
3.	To release the three persons held in the Baghaichori Army Camp;
4.	To cease all Bangali settlements in Sajek Union and the three Hill
Districts;
5.	In accordance with the CHT Accord 1997
a)	To activate the Land Commission, to review and settle all land disputes;
b)	To withdraw army camps from the CHT; and
c)	To enable full functioning of the civil administration, including
through effective functioning of the CHT Regional Council.

*****
The group of citizens which conducted an on-site inquiry at Sajek
Union in Baghaichori Upazila in Rangamati District comprised of:

1.	Syed Abul Maqsud, Writer, Journalist
2.	Ziauddin Tareque Ali, Member, Shonmilito Shamajik Andolon
3.	Pankaj Bhattacharya, Member, Shomilito Shamajik Andolon
4.	Shameema Binte Rahman, Journalist
5.	Supriyo Chakma, Prothom Alo, Rangamati
6.	Jewel Dewan, Advocate, BLAST, Rangamati
7.	Rubayet Ferdaus, Associate Professor, Dhaka University
8.	Sara Hossain, Advocate, Supreme Court
9.	Abu AhmedFaizul Kabir, Investigator, Ain o Salish Kendra
10.	KCing Marma, Student, Chittagong University
11.	Rajiv Mir, Assistant Professor, Chittagong University
12.	Anirban Saha, Investigator, Ain o Salish Kendra