Eviction designed long ago

Eviction of about 1,500 Santal families from Shahebganj-Bagda Farm of Rangpur Sugar Mill at Gobindaganj in Gaibandha was designed long ago by government agencies.
The government had decided to conduct a joint drive of police, Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh to evict the Santals, said officials of home and industries ministries.
Gaibandha superintendent of police M Ashraful Islam told New Age on Tuesday that there was a government decision to conduct a joint drive to evict the Santals at convenient time.
‘The planned drive might have taken place any suitable day, Ashraful said, adding that they, however, conducted the joint drive on November 6 as situation demanded.
The home ministry in a letter on July 27 asked the inspector general of police and director general of Rapid Action Battalion to consider a joint drive as requested by industries ministry to evict the Santals from the farm land.
In the letter, the home ministry said that the ethnic minorities were trying to grab 1,842 acres farm land of Rangpur Sugar Mill at Shahebganj in connivance with different land grabbers claiming that it was their ancestral land. 
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan also directed the superintendent of police and deputy commissioner in Gaibandha to conduct a joint drive to evict the Santals.
He gave the directive after a meeting with the deputy speaker, Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation chairman, ruling Awami League leaders and union council chairmen of Gobindaganj and high officials of the sugar mill on October 4, said at least three people present at the meeting. 
Gaibandha deputy commissioner Md Abdus Samad, however, sent a letter to cabinet secretary, prime minister’s principal secretary, senior secretary of industries ministry and home ministry and Rangpur divisional commissioner on October 5 stating that there was a risk of casualties in such joint drive that might turn into a national and international issue.
The district administration, however, on October 6 requested the Santals through public announcement system to remove their makeshift houses and leave the farm areas saying it that if they did not leave the farm, the district administration would evict them. 
The divisional commissioner on October 10 asked the deputy commissioner to enforce the Government and Local Authority Lands and Buildings (Recovery of Possession) Ordinance 1970 to evict the Santals. 
The deputy commissioner on October 10 issued a letter to the superintnednent of police and the managing director of the sugar mill saying that his administration was ready to provide legal assistance and executive magistrate in maintaining law and order of the farm area. 
The letter stated that the Santals being instigated by vested quarters had set up 1,000 makeshift houses on about 300 acres of farm land. 
In 2015, many Santals coming from different areas along with some local Santals formed Shahebganj-Bagda Farm Bhumi Uddhar Sangram Committee under the leadership of local AL leader Md Shakil Akhand Bulbul, also local union council chairman, to restore their ownership on the land.
On November 6, police along with the local AL activists evicted the Santals and set fire to their makeshift houses following clashes between police and the minority group that left at least two Santals killed and 20 injured. 
As for the eviction drive, Gobindaganj police station officer-in-charge Subrata Kumar said that 22 cops just went to the farm in the morning on November 6 to ensure smooth harvesting of foundation seeds of sugarcane from the farm by the sugar mill not for evicting the Santals. 

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