Hundreds of Aila-hit families in Dakope still under open sky

Picture (Dailystar news): Rendered homeless by cyclone Aila on May 25 this year, people of Kamarkhola village in Dakope upazila under Khulna district are still living miserably in awful makeshift shelters on a road. Photo: STAR

Source: The Daily Star News

Many victims of cyclone Aila-hit unions in Dakope upazila of Khulna district have alleged irregularities and malpractices in distribution of the government fund allocated for reconstruction of their damaged houses.

Over a lakh people of about 35,000 families of Sutarkhali, Kamarkhola, Tildanga and Banishanta unions under Dakope upazila are still staying under the open sky and in makeshift camps at high places as the Aila on May 25 this year rendered them homeless.

"Aila fully damaged 22 kilometres of embankments in these four unions. We hope to start work for reconstructing the damaged embankments by the last week of next month," said engineer Abdur Rob Howlader of Water Development Board.

Nani Gopal Mandol, lawmaker elected from Khulna-1 constituency (Dakope and Batiaghata upazilas) said the government had responded to his request for allocation of fund required to reconstruct the damaged embankments as early as possible.

Meanwhile, there are allegations of corruption and malpractice in distribution of government fund allocated particularly for reconstruction of houses damaged by Aila.

According to the UNO's office, Aila fully damaged 25,167 houses and partly damaged 8,349 houses in nine unions under the upazila.

Each of the affected 7,530 families of Sutarkhali and 3,533 families of Kamarkhola union received Tk 3,000 for reconstruction of their damaged houses while victims of other unions are yet to get it.

There are allegations of irregularities, malpractices and nepotism in distribution of Tk 3 crore 31 lakh and 89,000 allocated by the government for reconstruction of damaged houses of Aila victims.

Many Aila victims did not get money although their houses were fully damaged, said Mahabubur Rahman of Kalabogi village of Sutarkhali union.

"I did not get money for reconstruction of my house fully damaged by Aila as I did not offer a certain amount from Tk 3,000 to the UP chairman as tip," said Khokon Bawali of Satghoria village in Kamarkhola union.

As this correspondent talked separately with the upazila chairman, the UNO and police officials, they said that none of the Aila victims had so far submitted any written complaint against anyone committing such grave offence of misappropriation.

They, however, did not rule out the possibility of such malpractices.

"Sutarkhali union parishad member Abdul Hossain Sana was arrested on October 12 on charge of corruption in distributing fund meant for reconstruction of damaged houses," the UNO said.

Bangladesh: Abducted and gang raped minority housewife fighting for life

Source: Manabzamin.net


A group of armed criminals wearing mask abducted a minority Hindu woman while she was sleeping with her husband and later gang-raped her. The victim is now fighting for her life at the hospital.

Two criminals are now under arrest in this incident.

Police informs the reporter that, on Friday night, a group of six criminals wearing masked burst into the house of Sagar Das cutting through tin shed hedge of his house at Madhupur upazilla.

They attacked and forcefully abducted the housewife (25), mother of two children and gang raped her in a nearby paddy field. Husband of the victim, Sagar Das sustained several stab wounds while trying to save his wife.

According to report, criminals snatched the housewife dragging her through fileds and brought the victim at Taila Kupi open field while gang raped her there.

The victim was found unconsciously lying in the open field and rescued by family members who admitted her at Pabna Sadar Hospital.

Mr. Sagar Das, the husband of the victim filed a case against the perpetrators of crime at Ataikula police station.

Report on the Meeting of the Standing Committee of the CHT Affairs Ministry

Submitted by: PCJSS CHT

On 18 October 2009 at 11.00 a.m. the sixth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ministry of CHT Affairs (MoCHTA) held at Cabinet Room of the Jatiyo Sangsad in Dhaka presided over by Janab Shah Alam, President of the Committee. Among others the following persons were present in the meeting:

Members of the Standing Committee –

1. Mr. Dipankar Talukdar, State Minister, MoCHTA
2. Mr. Bir Bahadur Ushwesingh, MP, Bandarban
3. Mr.Jatindra Lal Tripura, MP, Khagrachari
4. Janab (Retd. Captain) Giasuddin Ahmed MP, Mymensingh
5. Janab K.M. Khalid, MP, Mymensingh
6. Ms Aethin Rakhain, MP, Women Seat CHT Regional Council
7. Mr. Goutam Kumar Chakma, Member, CHTRC
8. Mr. Krishna Chandra Chakma, Executive Officer in Charge, CHTRC Officials
9. Janab Abul Hossain, Joint secretary, MoCHTA and 2 other officers of MoCHTA
10. One member from Bandarban Hill district Council
11. Representatives of Deputy Commissioners of Rangamati, Khagrachari & Bandarban Hill Districts.

Discussion & Decisions

(1) In the meeting the proceeding of the fifth meeting of the committee held in Rangamati on 18/08 2009 was approved, which contained mainly about a decision of cancellation of some hundred plots of lands leased out but were not used within the 10 years and allotment of lands through discussion with the MoCHTA, CHTRC and HDCs. With regard to the decision about allotment of lands, CHTRC member Goutam Kumar Chakma asked to do it as per the CHT Accord after resolution of land disputes and rehabilitation of Tribal refugees and internally Displaced Tribal Families and to add some words about it in the decision. The Committee assured that the allotment would be done as per the decision through discussion with CHTRC & HDCs. So there was nothing to worry about it.

(2) MoCHTA placed a brief report on the development of the implementation of the CHT Accord. The matter of issuing permanent Resident Certificate in CHT was pointed out. J L Tripura asked to exclude Deputy Commissioners (DCs) in issuing this one. But the MoCHTA official Abul Hossain explained the DCs have been doing it as per the CHT Regulatuion, 1900. Goutam Kumar Chakma told that there was no provision in the CHT Regulation for it. Finally, it was decided that CHTRC would place it in writing about it and then recommendation would be provided to MoCHTA for action.

(3) The issue of starting Land Survey as recommended by the Land Commission Chairman was discussed. Goutam Kumar Chakma told that the meetings convened by the Land Commission Chairman were not of the Commission and the Chairman of the CHTRC, who is a member of the Commission could not attend them owing to improper and urgent notices. Goutam Kumar Chakma explained that CHT Land Survey is not a function of the Commission. It has been a Quasi Judicial Body to settle land disputes in CHT only. He further explained that Land Survey in CHT at the moment based on the Bhumi Khatian (CHT) Ordinance, 1984 would mean legalise the plots illegally provided to the settlers in 1980, which would make the land disputes more complicated. The Committee asked CHTRC to place report on it later and based on it decision would be taken by the committee.

(4) Mr. Bir Bahadur MP urged the committee to arrange a conference on the Acts and Rules of CHT for proper orientation of the concerned authorities.

(5) Goutam Kumar Chakma, as instance raised the point of drafting the National Education Policy without consultation of the CHTRC, which might be conflicting with the HDCs Regulations in the coming days. Mr. Giasuddin Ahmed, at it asked Goutam Kumar Chakma to place recommendation, if any to the Committee soon. Goutam Kumar acceded to it and the Committee adopted it.

2 amici curiae appointed for hearing CHT accord rule

Source: The Daily star

The High Court today appointed two lawyers as amici curiae (friend of court) for their expert opinions on a High Court rule regarding the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord.

The HC bench of Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury appointed Advocate TH Khan and Barrister Rokanuddin Mahmud as important constitutional and legal points involved in this matter.

The HC bench fixed October 22 for hearing the rule.

On August 2007, the HC issued the rule upon the government to explain why the execution and implementation of the accord should not be declared unconstitutional and illegal.

The matter today came upon on the cause list for hearing.

On December 2, 1997, the previous Awami League government led by then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed the peace accord with PCJSS leader Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, popularly known as Santu Larma, ending an over two-decade-old insurgency.

Social attitude towards women must change

Source: The Daily Star News

VIOLENCE against women in different forms happens everyday everywhere in the world. But the causes behind the violence vary, depending on which society one is talking about. And in each and every incident of violence against women, in the case of sex-related ones in particular, it is always the male who is taking advantage of the victim's weakness. And the weakness can be both physical and social in origin.

In recent times, we get more reports on such incidents of violence being committed against women day in, day out than in the past. The latest report on the violence against women shows that in the last six months of this year some 1,479 women fell victim to sexual assault by men. That means every day more than eight women get raped in the country. This does not, however, mean that, of late, violence against women has grown in number for some strange reasons. For on average, the figure was still higher at 3,462 in 2008 and at 3,584 in 2007.

Some blame the ubiquitous satellite TV channels screening different kinds of shows including films with violent contents, especially those depicting sexual violence against women, for the worsening state of the social scourge. It is, however, a matter of research to find out if such shows or films have really the potential to increase the number and frequency of such criminal assault on women. That apart, it can be said without doubt that it is due to the media that we are now getting more and more aware of this ever-festering wound every society is suffering from.

In Bangladesh, it is only recently that the level of awareness about this social ill has been rising. For in the past, some cases of violence were not even taken cognisance of, let alone considered as a culpable offence. As a consequence, incidents of domestic violence often went unreported as those enjoyed some kind of immunity from the glare of publicity.

With the enactment of a number of laws against women repression, the cases of domestic violence traceable to various social roots including dowry claims have now come within the ambit of law. Similarly, male violence of sexual type against women has also got adequate coverage in the laws enacted by the successive governments.

But the mere existence of laws to bring the offenders to justice is not the only deterrent against the male-inflicted violence on women. Laws can take its due courses only after the offences are committed against the victim. But the law cannot come into action on its own, unless the victim, her family members or any concerned citizen brings the issue to the notice of law. Even after the issue is brought to court, justice is not immediately established. One has to go through the entire procedure of law before the wrong done to the victim is righted. This is but the accepted mode of delivering justice.

Nonetheless, in our society, the victims of violence, especially women, often shrink away from having recourse to law. Here comes the issue of our society's sensitivity to the violence inflicted on women by men. Unlike open societies with advanced democracy, here the very idea of making the subject of rape or any other kind of aggressive male action against women public involves certain amounts of risk. And it is about the honour of the woman concerned in the public eye. Which is why the acts of sexual violence in particular against women often either go unreported or are hardly brought to court for redress. Only the handful of cases that draw any serious media attention may finally see the light of justice.

But what happens to the lives of those victims of male violence after all the publicity over their dishonour and the legal measures taken die down? The media hardly ever keeps track of that other side of the story, if only because those may not carry much value as news items. The irony is even after the wrong done to a woman victim of rape is redressed and well-compensated for through the due process of law, the subject of the wrong done never recovers from the blow she suffered to her social honour. The woman at a stage becomes a liability to the family and society. The victim, if unmarried, may forever lose the opportunity to be married. And for a married woman, her husband and his family may permanently abandon her.

Here it is the culture and tradition of society that is to blame for the general lack of sensitivity to women victims of violence of every kind. To change the situation, existence of the relevant laws is not enough. The family and social values that dictate our behaviour towards women must undergo transformation before a woman may fight in the court for her honour and rights like her male counterparts. To achieve that end, we would need more than the work of a few urban-based and elitist gender-conscious advocacy groups. In truth, the nature and quality of the politics itself that rule our life has to be transformed lock, stock and barrel.

Bangladesh: 1479 rape cases recorded in 6 months: Women repression unabated despite stringent law

Source: The Daily Star


Despite prevailing stringent laws in the country to protect women, violence in different forms against women still goes on unabated with offenders cocking a snook at the laws of the state.
Repression on women have increased manifold over the last few months. The brutality is inflicted on them mainly for dowry, disputes over wedding and land, said women activists working to promote and ensure women's rights in the country.


At least 1,479 women had been raped in six months beginning from January of 2009 while a total of 395 rape incidences, the highest number recorded, were committed in Dhaka Range followed by 390 in Rajshah and the lowest two in Railway Range, said Home Minister Sahara Khatun at a parliament session on October 12.

She also added that at least 3,462 women in 2008 and 3,584 in 2007 were violated.
On September 25, an adolescent was gang-raped following her abduction by 10 Bangladesh Chhatra League activists while she was returning from a Puja Mandop in Kolapar upazila in Patuakhali district.

Four police constables raped a woman from ethnic minority community on 28 February 2009 in Khagrachhari while an Indian BSF violated a Bangladeshi woman and killed her husband in Satkhira in last April.

Advocate Salma Ali, executive director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), told The Daily Star, “There are a number of laws including Dowry Prohibition Act, Prevention of Women and Child Repression Act (2000) which provides for effective and efficient way of dealing with cases of violence against women such as rape, acid attacks, forced prostitution and trafficking.”

The other acts include Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act 1933, Family Court Ordinance, Cruelty to Women (Deterrent Punishment) Ordinance and Trafficking in Women and Children Act 1993.

“Without proper implementation of the laws, it is really tough to stop violence against women that has become part and parcel of our male partners' behaviour,” said the advocate who runs shelter home for the repressed women, children and aged people.
Shamima Akhter (24) with her six-month-old daughter was looking for an official at the Nari Nirjatan Protirodh Cell of Women and Children Affairs Department to get legal support for her daughter's paternal right.

She narrated the sorry tale of her conjugal life. “Within four months of our marriage, my husband Mozammel Haque alias Khokan started to torture me. And finally while I was six-month pregnant, he walked out on me as my poor parents failed to give him the dowry of Tk 30,000.”

Hailed from city's Lalbagh area, Shamima now visits Nari Nirjatan Protirodh Cell at Eskaton Garden at least four days a week with her daughter. She said, “I have come here on foot. I started at 7:00am and have reached here at 11:00am for the hearing.”
Like Shamima, at least 20 others who are victims of violence visit the Nari Nirjatan Protirodh Cell each day, said sources at the department. “We also receive some foreign women victims who got married to Bangladeshi men,” said a record keeper officer of the cell who mainly files up complaints.

As per case histories most of the victims filed cases against their husbands, or mother in laws for physical torture for dowry.
Meanwhile, the human rights-based organisation Odhikar reported that at least 338 women including 158 girls were raped in nine months beginning from January of 2009. Sixty-eight women and 51 girls were gang-raped, 50 women and 22 children were killed after rape during this period.

A total of 247 women were subjected to dowry-related violence. One hundred seventy-six of them died due to the violence and 64 of them were tortured in various ways. Seven of these women allegedly committed suicide, as they couldn't bear the brunt of torture, Odhikar statistics stated.

At least 27 women fell victim to illegal fatwa while 45 women and 12 girls became the victims of acid throwing, it said.

Women and human rights activist, Ayesha Khanam, who works in the area for three decades, told The Daily Star yesterday, “We are concerned about the realities of women who are the worst victim of violence. Doctor or post-graduate females are also now victims of torture and killed by their in-laws' families.”

She said the recent victims, a doctor and a student of Dhaka University, could be the wake-up calls to launch movement against domestic violence.
“We have submitted letters to home, women and children affairs ministries and prime minister to take steps in this regard,” she said.

Unholy things under holy mask

Source: Modern Ghana.com

A group of ruling party men has set a very nasty example of 'unholy' task under the garb of holy reason.


According to Bangladeshi press, Uttara Hindu Kalyan Sangha [Uttara Hindu Welfare Society] ook permission to use a piece of land measuring one hecter [3 acres] from Bangladesh government for a week for setting a temporary Puja [Hindu worship] pandel in Dhaka. Considering the divine reason, Bangladeshi government granted permission to use the land for using the land for seven days, during the just concluded Durga Puja [largest religious festival of Hindus].

Durga Puja [Worship of Durga'], also referred as Durgotsab [Festival of Durga] is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates worship of Hindu goddess Durga. Durga Puja is widely celebrated in West Bengal, Assam , Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Tripura where it is a five-day annual holiday. Not only it is the biggest Hindu festival celebrated throughout the State, but also the most significant socio-cultural event in Bengali society.

Subsequently a temporary pandel was set on the land. But, the organizers, at the end of the festival, instead of vacating the land are and immersing the Durga deity are continuing to keep the deities on the spot, with an ulterior motive of grabbing the piece of land. According to Hindu rituals, Durga deities are accorded farewell and immersed in a nearby river or lake.

Sensing the immoral attitude of the Hindu leaders who took the permission for setting the pandel, members of law enforcing agencies are already deployed on the spot and a criminal case has been lodged against the leaders of Uttara Hindu Kalyan Sangha [Uttara Hindu Welfare Society] most of whom are ruling party activists and leaders.

On the other side, a leader of Uttara Hindu Kalyan Sangha, Engineer Chandra Mohan Paul told reporters that the questioned land was not occupied illegally. He claimed that, they already have sought court injuction on the land, which stops Bangladesh government from removing the temporary pandel from the spot.

Meanwhile, it is learnt from the office of Bangladesh government that the leaders of Uttara Hindu Kalyan Sangha [Uttara Hindu Welfare Society] submitted an application with Rajdhani Unnayan Karitpakkha [Capital City Development Authorities] on August23 2009 with recommendation from Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun for using the aforesaid land for 10 days. The permission was granted with two specific conditions, which are:

1. Organizers wont allow any commercial establishments on the land during the period of using it,

2. They will vacate the land by September 29, 2009 and remove all materials of the temporary pandel from the spot.

On end of the Durga Puja, the leaders of Uttara Hindu Welfare Society, started constructing a temple on the land without any lawful rights. When Rajdhani Unnayan Karipakkha [Capital City Development Authorities] rushed on the spot and intervened, some influential Hindu leaders made phone calls to the Prime Minister's office claiming, a Hindu Temple was attacked. Subsequently, police were deployed on the spot.

It is alleged by Rajdhani Unnayan Karipakkha that, some leaders of the ruling party are behind the entire episode of grabbing the land in the name of Hindu temple. They said, subsequently commercial establishments will be set alongside the temple, if they will finally succeed in grabbing the land and those leaders will cash huge amount of money from this place.

While everyone in the world are always in favor of protecting minority rights, it is also equally expected from the religious minorities in the world that they won't use religious sentiment in covering any form of illegal activities, as some of the Hindu leaders in Dhaka [Bangladesh] have committed in the mentioned case.

It is also important to mention here that, although we have found just one example of grabbing land in the name of setting Puja Pandel, in Bangladesh alone, acres of land are grabbed by some crooks in the name of establishing mosques, shrines, temples etc for years. Especially the trend of grabbing property by establishing a mosque is a very common phenomenon in Bangladesh. There are at least hundreds if not thousands of cases of grabbing government property by setting a mosque right within the capital city in Bangladesh. And not to mention about the other cities and towns in the country.