Bangladesh Observer, 7 September 2003
Disturbing signals are coming from the hills in the east. An arson attack on
nine villages in Mahalchhari on August 26 has reduced them into rubbles. Incidents
of rape have also been reported from those villages inhabitated by indigenous
people. An abduction case is said to have acted as an incendiary. The Bangalee
settlers used it as an excuse for carrying out the unprecedented attack. But
no one has so far been able to confirm that the villagers of those nine villages
were anyway responsible for the so-called abduction. Increasingly the suspicion
is gaining ground that it was a rumour which was spread with an ulterior motive.
Since the attack 10 days ago, there has been an attempt傭oth overt and covert
to downplay the criminal act. Both the local administration and the government
are reluctant to admit that so many villages came under attack and it was on
a scale never witnessed by the hill people. Even the role of the army stationed
there is facing a big question mark. As many as 400 families have been rendered
shelterless and the affected people are spending time under the open sky, only
some hundred people have sought refuge in Rangamati town. Those who have decided
not to admit the ferocity of the attack are not likely to visit the affected
villages and thus give anyone a chance to make it a big issue. That is quite
understandable. But what about the Opposition leaders? Security concerns, it
is reported, hold the government functionaries back. Are the Opposition leaders
also afraid of visiting the area? Leaders of the hill people's own organisations,
like the Janasanghati, could not also make
time to
see for themselves what ravage the attack has wrought there and how the people
have been faring since then.
Both criminal and humanitarian issues are no longer in focus in this crime-fested
country. That people are taking such incidents in their stride is not at all
true. As weak sections of the population, both the minority and the indigenous
communities become the worst victims of a deteriorating law and order situation.
The indifference shown to the hill people's plight will further encourage the
elements who are thought to have carried out the attack with a criminal motive.
What that motive is likely to be? One answer is that the plain-lands people
need lands for settlement and agriculture. One should not be surprised if the
attack was aimed at evicting the villagers from their homes.
Whatever it is, the fact remains that several thousand people have lost their
shelter and most of their material possession all of a sudden. This government,
true to its character, may blame the hill people themselves for what has happened.
Maybe, it will come up with a statement that the homeless people caused the
arson to malign the government. This however will complicate the matter, instead
of getting at the root of the problem. The tribal and indigenous people are
capable of doing unexpected things when they are pushed too much. That prospect
may not be to anyone's liking. It took decades of negotiation to bring peace
in the hills. We cannot do anything to cause that peace break down. So it is
in the interest of all that the culprits behind Mahalchhari incident must be
brought to book and given exemplary punishment so that no one dares commit such
a crime in future.