B'desh scraps law depriving minorities of their lands

26 November, 2009 04:20:00 editor

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On September 9, 2009 Bangladesh cabinet decided to scrap the Enemy (Vested) Property Act. A number of human rights groups across the world have been demanding repeal of ‘pernicious law’ as they dubbed it, and returning the properties to the heirs and rightful owners, who are Hindus.   The Act has been viewed as an instrument of human rights violation in the country.

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), an overseas chapter of Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad (HBCOP), has been fighting for the rights of minorities in the country. It has been in regular contact with the UN officials.

BHBCUC made concerted efforts to put Bangladesh under review by the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism (UPRM) of the UN Human Rights Council, apart from getting Special Rapporteur (of UN) deputed to Dhaka to put an end to persecution of minorities and ensure repeal of the Enemy (Vested) Property Act.

A delegation of BHBCUC operating in the US and human rights activist Shahriar Kabir met Congressman Joseph Crowley who is also Chairman of Bangladesh Caucus, have appraised him of persecution of Hindu minorities. At their meeting with Crowley on July 20, 2007, the Bangladesh activists highlighted how land grabbers were taking advantage of the Enemy (Vested) Property Act to deprive the Hindu minorities of their properties.

Crowley assured them that the US administration was keeping a close watch on the situation. He promised to take up the issue of the Enemy (Vested) Property Act with the then Army backed regime in Dhaka.

In a manner of speaking, credit for initiating repeal of the Act goes to the Army backed caretaker government that was in the saddle for two years (2007-08). It took the first steps to return the property which was acquired under Enemy (Vested) Property Act. The Awami League Government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has completed the process and gave legal cover to all the steps taken.

Way back in 1971, after East Pakistan emerged as Bangladesh in 1971, Law Continuance Enforcement Order was promulgated. Under the ordinance, all Pakistani laws, which were found consistent with the sovereign status of Bangladesh, were allowed to remain in force. One such law which got a new lease was Enemy (Vested) Property Act. It was enacted by the military rulers of Pakistan in 1965 in view of the then prevailing state of war between India and Pakistan.

Bangladesh was not a successor to the state of Pakistan or its assets and liabilities. Yet Enemy (Vested) Property law remained on the statute book to the dismay of minorities. Leaders of mainline parties have been in agreement that continuance of this particular law was a grave error. They pointed out that a law that was enacted during a war between India and Pakistan has lost its relevance. Its application in Bangladesh meant the war between India and Pakistan had become a war between India and Bangladesh and thereby India and Indian nationals became the enemies of the new independent republic. What an absurdity it was given the level of goodwill between Bangladesh and its neighbour.

Over the years, the Enemy (Vested) Property Act enabled the successive Govts to confiscate property of some select groups terming them as enemy of the state. The victims were the Hindu community.

By 2001 Vested Property Return Act was enacted after repealing the original act through the Enemy Property (Continuance of Emergency Provision) (Repeal) Act 1974. That was in the run up to the 2001 Parliamentary elections. The Awami League government of Sheikh Hasina pushed the repeal law through Parliament. It also made the Vested Property Return Act.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) members boycotted the voting on these two laws. Khaleda Zia regime which succeeded Hasina government and ruled till 2006 made no effort either to return the confiscated property or to pay compensation for the property lost.

A year ago, on November 6, 2008 to be precise, the Supreme Court delivered a Rule (direction) upon (to) the Government on the Enemy Property (Continuance of Emergency Provision) (Repeal) Act 1974 and the Vested Property Return Act 2001.

The Rule called upon the government to show cause as to why the properties so far incorporated in the list as Enemy (Vested) Property should not be returned to the title holder/successor/legal possession holders. The government was asked to file its reply within 4 weeks from 28 October 2008.

In 1997, Professor Abul Barkat of Dhaka University conducted an indepth study on ‘Causes and Consequences of Deprivation of Hindu Minorities in Bangladesh through the Vested Property Act'.

The study showed that 925,050 Hindu households (40% of Hindu families in Bangladesh) were affected by the Enemy (Vested) Property Act. Of them, 748,850 families were dispossessed of agricultural land.

Total land that was confiscated was 1.64 million acres (6,640 sq. km). It accounted for almost 53 per cent of the total land owned by the Hindu community. And 5.3 per cent of the total land area of Bangladesh.

Professor Barkat study also highlighted that beneficiaries of the land grab through the controversial Enemy Property law cut across party-lines.

He estimated the political affiliations of beneficiaries thus:

•   Awami League 44.2%
•   BNP: 31.7%
•   Jatiyo Party of Gen Ershad:5.8%
•   JEI: 4.8%
•   Others 13.5%

The largest appropriation of Hindu property took place immediately after emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation, - during the first Awami League government led by Sheikh Mujib (1972-75) and thereafter during the rule of Gen Zia-ur-Rahman and his BNP (1976-1980).

75% of the land of the Hindus in the erstwhile East Pakistan and in Bangladesh had been confiscated through provisions of the Enemy Property Act since 1948, Prof Barkat's work shows.

His study underscores another point. It is that less than 0.4% of the population of Bangladesh has benefited from the Enemy Property Act. It means the law has been abused by corrupt politicians with no demonstrated sanction of the population at large.

Over the past three decades of existence of independent Bangladesh, many politicians made promises to repeal the Enemy Vested Property Act to appease the Hindus and gain their support. In fact, the first government of Sheikh Mujib vowed to repeal all laws that contradicted the values of the newly liberated country. Enemy Property Act was one of them as it contravened non-communal provisions of the new Constitution. Instead of being repealed, the law was sustained under a new name in 1974.

In 1980 President Gen Ershad issued an order that no new property could be listed as vested property. He also declared that vested properties would be guided by the personal law of the Hindus. Nonetheless, the properties belonging to the Hindu minorities continued to be enlisted as vested property. Several prized properties in prime locations of capital Dhaka have been grabbed by influential people.

Scarping the controversial law is therefore not that easy. Much more difficult will be implementation of the new law and return of properties to the original Hindu owners or their lawful heirs. The process and when it gets underway will face many hurdles. There will be no surprise if chaos is created by party cadres and activists belonging to both the ruling and opposition. It is no secret that major segment of confiscated properties is under the tight grip of influential political leaders and their agents cutting across party affiliations.

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