Minority A Real Concern
Salma Ali
Oppression of the weaker by the dominant and powerful sections of society has existed ever since human society began. The burden of exploitation disproportionately falls on the disadvantaged groups of society. In fact, most justice systems have an in-built bias towards serving the needs and interests of the richest and most powerful members of societies. They have little access to the poorest and more disadvantaged communities and inspire little confidence or sense of security.
Although the constitution of Bangladesh declares equal rights for all people, some are denied their rights because they belong to minority groups. Oppression of the religious minorities in Bangladesh has existed since the birth of the nation. In most cases it originates from village politics, of vested groups who take advantage of the deteriorated law and order situation and exploit the religious minorities, occupying their wealth and land.
Minority communities often feel helpless seeing the reluctance and disinterest of police administration. The victims often complain that they do not receive any help even when they go to the local police station or investigation cell where they are threatened by violence. They explained that the police demand large amounts of bribes for sending a policeman or IO (Investigating Officer) to the scene of the crime, or for receiving complaints or even to submit a general diary. Although there was no governmental patronisation in these cases, the government failed to make appropriate intervention to improve the situation. In most cases the government remains calm and quiet until a major incident occurs. The government sometimes avoids the incident, terming it as “discrete” or “isolated.”
Thus the question remains: When will the dreadful fear of the minorities be put to rest?
The prime target of these vested groups is the Hindu community. On one hand they buy assets from minority families at a nominal price; on the other hand they threaten the minority's security by influencing local miscreants. The vicious groups always conspire to force them to hand over their assets under the threat of humiliation. If one heir of the asset is trapped, it turns out to be a bigger trap for the entire family. The new owner of the assets start harassing the other heirs to gain possession without really having any real power, therefore being completely helpless. In addition to this the “forged deed”makes the situation more complicated. Sometimes the litigious village politicians put the landmark number in the government's list of abandoned land claiming that the landowner has left for India. Later the same group occupies the land in the form of leasing the “Khas Land” from the government and enjoys the ownership unopposed.
Whatever may be the reason, either abuse of power or inter-party conflict, in most cases the women members of the society have to face the hardship. As they comprise the weaker section of the society, they still have to bear inhuman torture of various forms. The situation gets even worse when the woman comes from a minority group. The recent incident in Bagerhat provides a very good example of that. Another incident took place before we could recover from the news of Chabi Rani's ordeal of brutal torture and agony. On the night of March 8th, 2003, a heinous incident of torture took place in the Thakur family of Komarpur village under Sadar thana of Bagerhat district. The miscreants stayed for two hours at the place of the incident, killed one member of the family, raped three women and injured several others. They also looted assets of approximately Tk. 100,000. The police claim that they are conducting the investigation of the incident.
The news of violence against religious minorities, especially women, is being published quite often in the daily newspapers. Bangladesh National Women Lawyer's Association (BNLWA) conducts in depth, investigations after getting information about such incidents through newspapers, local-level legal aid clinics, partner organisations, journalists and other sources. Sometimes, simple incidents are blown out of proportion, causing unnecessary pain. The organisation came across several cases where Hindu girls left their houses, eloping with Muslim boys. Later it has been found that a case is lodged against the boy of kidnapping or rape, etc. under a Penal Code or filed under the Prevention of the Repression Women and Children 2000 as oppression of minority women. In some cases it has been observed that the delayed investigation report on the part of the government also complicates the issue. For example, a writ petition was lodged on violence against minorities in the High Court during the October 2001 Parliamentary Elections. The High Court ordered the government to submit an investigation report based on that petition. The government submitted the report eight months after the High Court ruling, where the report termed the incidents as “incidents of personal affairs” instead of “conflict among communities.” The report led to a lot of debate at both national and international levels.
Through our legal aid services we found that in Bangladesh, minority girls are oppressed, not only by men of other religions, but also by men from their own religious groups. BNWLA conducted surveys and research in this regard, namely, An Action Study on Proposed Reform of Hindu Family Law (published 1997) and later on made a documentary film named Kannya Tomar Thikana Ki in the year 2001. In our research we found that Hindu male members of the family do not agree to bring reform in the age-old law. For example, the Hindu women do not have the right to file divorce against their husbands in our country. The government also remains reluctant about bringing reform in the age-old Hindu Law as the Hindu community leaders do not welcome such interventions in their religion. India, on the other hand, has brought several changes to uphold women's rights.
Whatever the reason behind it, the reality is that no government can avoid the liability of minority oppression if it occurs. The prime and foremost responsibility of any government is to protect all its citizens irrespective of gender, race, caste or religion from any sort of violation of human rights. We believe that a speedy and proper investigation of the incident should be ensured. This would not only accelerate the prompt action on the part of the concerned authority to ensure justice to the victim, but at the same time, would discourage persecution of other members of minority communities.
The writer is an advocate and Executive Director, BNWLA
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2003/05/02/hrights.htm