Photo: Star

A church was ransacked and at least one person sustained injury during an attack on Ichhachhara Khasi village in Kulaura upazila on Monday night -- several hours after the upazila administration in a raid evicted illegal occupants from a betel leaf garden belonging to an indigenous family at Katabari Paan Jum.

Around 50 to 60 men armed with local weapons, led by Rafiq Ali, who had been evicted from the garden several hours earlier, first vandalised a grocery store owned by one Lal Mia around 7:00pm and they later ransacked the nearby church too, locals said, adding that when the attackers started to throw stones at houses up on the hills, at least one person was hurt while running to safety.

AKM Shafi Ahmed Salman, chairman of Kulaura Upazila Parishad, told this correspondent over phone that the attackers fled by the time Kulaura Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) ATM Farhad Chowdhury, Additional Superintendent of Police (Kulaura Circle) Sadeq Kawsar Dastagir, Kulaura Police Station Officer-in-Charge Binay Bhushan Ray and Karmadha Union Parishad (UP) Chairman MA Rahman arrived at the scene. 

UNO ATM Farhad said all steps have been taken to ensure security of the indigenous community.

To dispel the tension, the five-acre property, which was freed from illegal occupation earlier in the day, has been placed under the responsibility of the local UP chairman and two UP members and Village Police will guard the property.

This correspondent could not reach Rafiq Ali for his version of the incident despite making multiple calls on his cell phone.

Yesterday's attack further escalated tensions among around 12,000 members of small ethnic communities residing at 32 villages in the upazila.

The inhabitants in the villages had been living in anxiety since the betel leaf garden, locally known as 'paan jum', was taken over by force on the night of September 27.

A group of men led by Rafiq Ali, an influential local from Tatriuli village, forcibly entered the property at Katabari Paan Jum and took its possession, said Josper Amlorong, the lawful owner of the garden.

Josper is a Khasi by ethnicity and suffering from cancer for the last three years. Like most Khasis, the betel leaf garden had been the only source of income for him and his family.

The sudden loss of income sent the family into tremendous financial hardship while Josper's physical condition deteriorated without timely treatment of the cancer in his body.

The Daily Star ran two reports in this regard on its Bangla online portal on October 10 and November 5.

On Monday, around afternoon, UNO ATM Farhad, also the magistrate of Kulaura, led a team of law enforcers during the eviction drive.

Tanvir Hossain, executive magistrate of Moulvibazar and Mizanur Rahman, deputy assistant director of Rapid Action Battalion-9 (Srimangal), also accompanied the eviction team.

Ever since occupying the garden forcibly, Rafiq Ali and his hired goons had been claiming that the land belonged to Rafiq. They even had been issuing death threats to Josper and other members of the community if they tried to go near the garden, said Josper.

Rafiq engaged outsiders to guard the garden 24 hours-a-day and they had been damaging the betel plants by plucking leaves without following proper procedures, he also said.

During a visit to the area on November 3, this correspondent witnessed a couple of workers collecting betel leaves in the garden. When the correspondent made attempt to enter the garden, he came under resistance from Rafiq's workers.

One of the workers, Bashir Ahmed, introduced himself as the caretaker of the garden. He claimed that his brother Rafiq Ali owns the garden.

When contacted over phone, Rafiq became furious for attempting to enter the property "without his permission". He also said, "Do you have any court order? I will implicate you in false cases... We've got your photo."

The inhabitants of the indigenous villages in the meantime have been in a state of shock and disbelief after witnessing how easily someone encroached on a property belonging to one of their community members, by preparing fabricated land deeds.   

Flora Babbly Talang, general secretary of Kuboraj Inter-punji Development Organisation, condemned the ransacking of the church and demanded immediate arrest of the persons responsible for Monday's attack.

Whenever there is an incident of encroachment on an ancestral property of any indigenous community, the authorities have to act swiftly. Otherwise, land grabbers might take over thousand other betel leaf gardens in indigenous villages in a similar fashion, she also said.

Father Joseph Gomes OMI, an executive committee member of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, said livelihoods of the Khasis depend on betel leaf cultivation and the community will face extinction if encroachment on their gardens and property continues unabated.

Thanking the administration for the eviction drive, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum General Secretary Sanjeeb Drong said the government needs to take swift action as incidents of encroachment on ancestral property of the minorities with fabricated documents are rising alarmingly.

UNO ATM Farhad said in mid-October, when he called the two parties in a meeting to settle the dispute by arbitration and mediation, Rafiq Ali did not show up. 

Later, the land documents provided by Rafiq were found to be fabricated after those were sent to the sub-registrar's office in Dhaka for verification.