Land grabbing and name sealing
Friday, 5 November 2010
Maswood Alam Khan
I had an idea that greedy and anti-social elements first grab lands and then erect false shrines, makeshift mosques or temporary temples or even fake graves on a corner of such a grabbed land to dupe the law enforcers. They make a quick buck by constructing on the rest of the land money-making shops and houses only to make fortune by exploiting the religious sentiments of the people. Such has traditionally been the easiest way in our country to encroach on public property by abusing the loopholes in the liberality of law on religious matters.
But a new trickery of grabbing land has evolved in Bangladesh. Now some hoodlums grab lands belonging to the government or to weak individuals and put up thereon a signboard of a so-called political, religious or philanthropic institution named after Bangabandhu or any of his children.
The mushrooming of these structures has unfortunately been encouraged by collusive politicians and has taken place under the very nose of the governmental authorities. The law enforcement agencies have often chosen to turn a blind eye to the encroachments, which in many places have been causing traffic snarls and occupying pavement spaces. The intention behind the defiance of law in such cases is no different from the rampant illegal construction of residential and office buildings and the enabling factor, the weak-kneed law enforcement, is more or less the same.
Land grabbing in God's name and now land grabbing in Bangabandhu's and his family's names and subsequently in the names of political leaders coming next to power, if allowed to continue unabated, may lead to a situation when the number of so-called mosques, temples, political camps and social organisations will exceed the number of schools and homes, leaving no sidewalk for pedestrians to walk freely on and no open space for people to breathe liberally in.
I have been impressed reading an article written by Sheikh Rehana, the youngest daughter of Bangabandhu, in a column in bdnews24.com published on Monday, where she expressed her unpleasant surprise at attempts by some vested quarters who have been establishing different organisations named after her family members.
In an emotional appeal Sheikh Rehana wrote: "I along with millions of people of Bangladesh have been passing our days and nights with pains and tears at the loss of my parents, siblings and relations. My father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is the father of our nation and who is a beloved leader to the people of Bangladesh, was ruthlessly murdered along with his family members by a few goons on 15 August 1975. To me and my other surviving family members the only consolation is the people of Bangladesh who have reserved in their hearts a permanent space to place Bangabandhu on as a treasure, who always remember him with profound gratitude for all the sacrifices he made in his lifetime for the welfare of Bangladesh and her posterity."
Sheikh Rehana in her write-up appealed to people of Bangladesh not to tarnish the image of their beloved leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by naming some organisations after Bangabandhu and his family members and later rubbing them out from the signboards.
In her fervent plea she wrote: "You please don't take such initiatives. We don't expect such behaviour from those who respect Bangabandhu. If you want to use our names, please seek our permission."
Her appeal came in the wake of some reports published recently in some national dailies that different organisations, being established on illegally grabbed lands, were being named after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members with a motive to scare the law enforcers away from taking any action against such illegal grabbing of properties. Those who have read the write-up in www.bdnews24.com must have appreciated Sheikh Rehana's pragmatism and her sense of judgment. As a daughter of Bangabandhu she has acted wisely by penning the write-up; she has timely appealed to people of Bangladesh to refrain from indulging in the corrupt practice of grabbing lands and sealing names and advised the government to take note of the trend of misusing the names of her family members. One finds a semblance of statesmanship quality in her way and style of writing.
Many of us are frustrated by the politics of naming public institutions and the game of erasing the names with the change of governance. Our political leaders forget the basic truth that a leader remains perpetually immortal only by his deeds, not by a signboard brandishing his or her name. Forced naming of institutions after a leader actually downgrades the status of the leader in the pages of history and forced erasing the names only reflects the narrowness in the attitude of our leaders. We have already earned a bad name as a nation ungrateful to our leaders. And we will earn another bad name as a deceitful nation if we allow continuing unabated the nasty game of land-grabbing and name-sealing in the name of our leaders and at times in the name of God.
There has to be a law to ban fresh construction of any mosque, temple or church or for that matter any political or social organisations on any roadside or any other public places and to demolish such illegal structures. Old constructions of religious, political or philanthropic institutions should also be shifted from busy to quieter locations easing the traffic congestion and ensuring smoother movement of people. The law has to be especially stringent on mushroom growth of fake shrines and false graves made on concocted stories.
We hope the parliament and the judiciary would take a resolve that will jolt the government and its law enforcement agencies into intervening-without fear or favour-to prevent further construction of illegal religious and political structures and to find a way of tackling the problem of land grabbing in the name of God or a political leader, a nasty culture that is creeping into our social fabrics insidiously.
E-mail: maswood@hotmail.com
I had an idea that greedy and anti-social elements first grab lands and then erect false shrines, makeshift mosques or temporary temples or even fake graves on a corner of such a grabbed land to dupe the law enforcers. They make a quick buck by constructing on the rest of the land money-making shops and houses only to make fortune by exploiting the religious sentiments of the people. Such has traditionally been the easiest way in our country to encroach on public property by abusing the loopholes in the liberality of law on religious matters.
But a new trickery of grabbing land has evolved in Bangladesh. Now some hoodlums grab lands belonging to the government or to weak individuals and put up thereon a signboard of a so-called political, religious or philanthropic institution named after Bangabandhu or any of his children.
The mushrooming of these structures has unfortunately been encouraged by collusive politicians and has taken place under the very nose of the governmental authorities. The law enforcement agencies have often chosen to turn a blind eye to the encroachments, which in many places have been causing traffic snarls and occupying pavement spaces. The intention behind the defiance of law in such cases is no different from the rampant illegal construction of residential and office buildings and the enabling factor, the weak-kneed law enforcement, is more or less the same.
Land grabbing in God's name and now land grabbing in Bangabandhu's and his family's names and subsequently in the names of political leaders coming next to power, if allowed to continue unabated, may lead to a situation when the number of so-called mosques, temples, political camps and social organisations will exceed the number of schools and homes, leaving no sidewalk for pedestrians to walk freely on and no open space for people to breathe liberally in.
I have been impressed reading an article written by Sheikh Rehana, the youngest daughter of Bangabandhu, in a column in bdnews24.com published on Monday, where she expressed her unpleasant surprise at attempts by some vested quarters who have been establishing different organisations named after her family members.
In an emotional appeal Sheikh Rehana wrote: "I along with millions of people of Bangladesh have been passing our days and nights with pains and tears at the loss of my parents, siblings and relations. My father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is the father of our nation and who is a beloved leader to the people of Bangladesh, was ruthlessly murdered along with his family members by a few goons on 15 August 1975. To me and my other surviving family members the only consolation is the people of Bangladesh who have reserved in their hearts a permanent space to place Bangabandhu on as a treasure, who always remember him with profound gratitude for all the sacrifices he made in his lifetime for the welfare of Bangladesh and her posterity."
Sheikh Rehana in her write-up appealed to people of Bangladesh not to tarnish the image of their beloved leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by naming some organisations after Bangabandhu and his family members and later rubbing them out from the signboards.
In her fervent plea she wrote: "You please don't take such initiatives. We don't expect such behaviour from those who respect Bangabandhu. If you want to use our names, please seek our permission."
Her appeal came in the wake of some reports published recently in some national dailies that different organisations, being established on illegally grabbed lands, were being named after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members with a motive to scare the law enforcers away from taking any action against such illegal grabbing of properties. Those who have read the write-up in www.bdnews24.com must have appreciated Sheikh Rehana's pragmatism and her sense of judgment. As a daughter of Bangabandhu she has acted wisely by penning the write-up; she has timely appealed to people of Bangladesh to refrain from indulging in the corrupt practice of grabbing lands and sealing names and advised the government to take note of the trend of misusing the names of her family members. One finds a semblance of statesmanship quality in her way and style of writing.
Many of us are frustrated by the politics of naming public institutions and the game of erasing the names with the change of governance. Our political leaders forget the basic truth that a leader remains perpetually immortal only by his deeds, not by a signboard brandishing his or her name. Forced naming of institutions after a leader actually downgrades the status of the leader in the pages of history and forced erasing the names only reflects the narrowness in the attitude of our leaders. We have already earned a bad name as a nation ungrateful to our leaders. And we will earn another bad name as a deceitful nation if we allow continuing unabated the nasty game of land-grabbing and name-sealing in the name of our leaders and at times in the name of God.
There has to be a law to ban fresh construction of any mosque, temple or church or for that matter any political or social organisations on any roadside or any other public places and to demolish such illegal structures. Old constructions of religious, political or philanthropic institutions should also be shifted from busy to quieter locations easing the traffic congestion and ensuring smoother movement of people. The law has to be especially stringent on mushroom growth of fake shrines and false graves made on concocted stories.
We hope the parliament and the judiciary would take a resolve that will jolt the government and its law enforcement agencies into intervening-without fear or favour-to prevent further construction of illegal religious and political structures and to find a way of tackling the problem of land grabbing in the name of God or a political leader, a nasty culture that is creeping into our social fabrics insidiously.
E-mail: maswood@hotmail.com