The National Citizen Coordination Committee on Sunday demanded the government take steps to return the land requisitioned for sugarcane cultivation to original owners, mostly Santals of Bagdafarm under Gobindaganj upazila in Gaibandha.
The committee, a combine of 10 rights organisations, also demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators involved in the attack on the Santal village in 2016.
It raised the demand after Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation under the industries ministry issued an order on December 15 to reopen six government-run sugar mills in phases in Shyampur, Setabganj, Panchagarh, Pabna, Kushtia and Rangpur, where sugarcane crushing had been suspended since 2020.
Association for Land Reform and Development executive director Shamsul Huda read a written statement of the combine at a press conference held at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital.
In the statement, he mentioned that the sugar mills were shut down due to massive corruption of bureaucrats and collective bargaining agent leaders and huge losses.
Protesting at the government initiative to reopen the sugar mills, Shamsul demanded a feasibility study by an expert team to determine whether reopening of the closed sugar mills would be profitable.
鈥楢 strong and independent commission of experts must be formed to identify the actual reasons behind losses and persons responsible for the losses,鈥� Shamsul said, adding, 鈥楾he decision to reopen must be withdrawn until the completion of the studies and investigations.鈥�
He also demanded that corrupt and bureaucracy-led task force formed to reopen the mills must be dissolved and an experts鈥� commission should be formed to propose ways for developing food processing industries based on domestic and foreign demands.
The combine sensed that the reopening of the mills before studies and investigations had intentions to loot money and land by a vested group.
Shamsul demanded that the 1,842.30 acres of agricultural land at Bagdafarm in Gobindaganj, requisitioned for sugarcane cultivation but remained unused for nearly two decades, must be returned immediately to the descendants of the original Santal community owners, the national minority people, and other local farmers.
Senior lawyer and Sammilita Samajik Andolan president Tabarak Hussain said that the 1962 requisition deed was not followed as the land was not returned to the owners with compensations despite the mill was closed at different times since 2004.
Sahebganj-Bagdafarm Bhumi Uddhar Sangram Committee president Philemon Baske demanded arrest of all the people responsible for the 2016 attacks that took lives of Shyamal Hembram, Mangal Mardi and Ramesh Tudu and injured hundreds of villagers.
Besides, rights activist Khushi Kabir, BLAST adviser Rezaul Karim, senior lawyer Subrata Chowdhury and Dhaka University journalism professor Robaet Ferdous, among others, were present at the press conference.
