LETTER OF APPEAL IN FAVOUR OF THE RIGHT TO FOOD, LANDED PROPERTY AND LIFE SECURITY
OF LANDLESS PEASANT WOMEN [of Bangladesh] AND THEIR FAMILIESTO SHEIKH HASINA,
THE PRIME MINISTER
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH
Dear Prime Minister,
This is to appeal urgently to you to take effective measures in order to ensure that landless peasant women's rights with regard to food, landed property and security of life, be respected. Reports which have reached us recently indicate that legal rights which had previously been granted to landless peasant women and their families, in order to improve their access to land, have been curtailed. Moreover, acts of violence against landless women and men trying to defend these basic rights, are on the increase. In this context, we would like to mention the following facts:
In 1987, the then government of Mohammed Ershad of Bangladesh issued a Land Manual which stipulated that all land registered as fallow land ( khas') would be distributed among landless peasants. Each family whose application was approved would receive two acres of land, - one in the name of the husband, the other acre would be legally registered in the name of the wife. The Land Manual thus formed an important step towards recognition of property right for women. Yet in practice, the regime did very little to implement this law.
Bangladesh's landless peasant women and men who constitute approximately 70 percent of the population, nevertheless felt encouraged by the existence of the Land Manual. Thus, under the leadership of organisations representing their interests, which include the Kisani Sabha (Peasant Women's Association), landless peasant women and men in the South-Western region of Bangladesh since 1992 have built many settlements in lowlying areas along the coast ( chars') registered as fallow' land. In most cases, settlers have succeeded in getting a document from the ocal authorities (D.C.R.), giving them a temporary legal right (i.e. usufructuary right) to use the land.
The contribution of women towards the building of these settlement has been very crucial. For instance, the Kisani Sabha which was founded in 1990, succeeded in attracting a very large membership, partly because its programme stresses the demand for women's property rights. Members of the Sabha who settled in the lowlying areas along the coast, through their labour decisively contribute towards the sustaining of the settlements, for instance through fishing in the waters surrounding the chars, and through various types of gathering activities. Thus, the settlements form a clear example of women's struggle to achieve their own emancipation from poverty and social inequality.
Under the BNP-government which was in power till June 1996, the non-implementation of the Land Manual continued as under Ershad's regime, but landless peasant women and men who had independently built legal settlements on fallow' land, could at least count on the backing of the country's courts. For conflicts with rich landgrabbers were generally decided in their favour, - either by local magistrate courts or by the High Court in the capital Dhaka. Although the government failed to perform its duty in relation to the landless' right to land, the country's courts to an extent helped defend the legal rights of Bangladesh's undernourished peasant population.
The situation, unfortunately, appears to have changed for the worse since your government came to power in the middle of 1996. First, - contrary to the pledge the Awami League made during its parliamentary election campaign (namely that the existing law on fallow land would be implemented), your government does not appear to have pushed the implementation process forward. Instead, it has issued new legal regulations on fallow land (May 1997), which limit the landless' right to receiving land. Instead of 2 acres, the new regulations promise only one acre to each landless family considered eligible. Moreover, women's right to landed property has, in practice, been annulled, since the earlier requirement that land be registered in the name of women has been cancelled.
Furthermore, whereas in the previous period violence against the settlements of landless peasant women and men was mainly perpetrated by landgrabbers and local groups of musclemen, - there is increasing evidence that under your government state-organs themselves are directly responsible for acts of violence against the mentioned settlements. Thus, reports collected over the last two months from three Districts in the South of Bangladesh (i.e. Satkhira, Bhola and Patuakhali) state that leading members of your government party and police forces have engaged in violent attacks on legal settlements built on fallow' lands. During at least one of such attacks (i.e. the one on Shikdarer Char, in Bhola - May 8, 1998), two peasant women were raped.
We are deeply worried that government institutions - instead of ensuring landless peasants' access to land, to food and to life security - seem to be determined to undermine their minimal rights. For increasingly, local authorities are using the Special Powers Act' which permits indiscriminate arrest of people who criticise the government, to round up peasants and peasant activists trying to defend the human rights of the poor. This is the more tragic since this Act has been condemned by your own party, the Awami League, in the past, and by many others, including Amnesty International. The use of the Special Powers' Act against those defending settlements that are legally based, is a complete travesty of justice.
In view of the above-mentioned facts, we urgently appeal to you to intervene and ensure that the violence and repression against settlements of landless peasants in the South of Bangladesh be stopped. We further request you to ensure a genuine implementation of the 1987 Land Manual. The right of landless peasant women and men to food, to property and to a secure life, could be promoted by instituting a Task Force to implement the Manual on an emergency base. As the evidence available shows, implementation would surely advance the cause of economic and social emancipation of landless women in Bangladesh.
We look forward to receive your positive response to this urgent appeal,
Yours Sincerely,
LIST OF SIGNATORIES
TO THE LETTER OF APPEAL TO SHEIKH HASINA,
THE PRIME MINISTER, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH
IN FAVOUR OF THE RIGHT TO FOOD, LANDED PROPERTY
AND LIFE SECURITY OF LANDLESS PEASANT WOMEN AND THEIR FAMILIES
Name Organisation
Bina Agarwal, Professor of Economics, Delhi, India, and author of
A Field of One's Own: Gender & Land Rights in South
Asia'
Susan George, Author, Associate Director of the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam; President of the Observatoire de la Mondialisation (Global Observatory), Paris, France
Ruth Pearson, Professor Women & Development, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands
Amrita Chhachhi, Lecturer, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague
Betsy Hartmann, Director, Population and Development Programme, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, USA
Magda Aelvoet, Co-President, The Green Group, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium
Claudia Roth, Co-President, the Green Group, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium
Wilfried Telkamper, Member of the European Parliament, Green Group, Heidelberg, Germany
Nel van Dijk, President, The Women's Committee, European Parliament
B.R.Shyamala Devi, Professor of Economics, Kakatiya University, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India
Debjani Das, Project - Decentralised Cooperation, Liaison Committee of NGDOs to the European Union, Brussels, Belgium
The Bangladesh Group, The Netherlands
Harsh Kapoor, South Asia Citizens Web, France
Ahmed Kamal, Professor of History, Dhaka University, Bangladesh
Hossain Zillur Rahman, Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Abul Hossain, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Ahmed Sharif, Retired Professor, Dhaka University, Bangladesh
Bashir Al Helal, Author, Bangladesh
A.Mannan, Quarterly Atma Pratikriti, Bangladesh
Gazarfar Kabir, Freelance Journalist, Bangladesh
Abu Zafar Md.Saleh, Assistant Professor, Philosophy Department, Dhaka University, Bangladesh
Sabruna Ahmed, Lecturer English , Dhaka College, Bangladesh
Q.N.Zaman, Convenor, Anti-Fascist Democratic Committee, Bangladesh
Sumanta Banerjee, Journalist, New Delhi, India
Praful Bidwai, Journalist, New Delhi, India
Gerard van Alkemade, Secretary, The Hague Peace Platform, the Netherlands
Sumati Nair, Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
Professor Maithreyi Krishnaraj (retired) - SNDT Women's University, Bombay, India
Nalini Vishwanathan, CWPE, Amherst, MA, USA
Rachel Kurien, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague
Lourdes Beneria, Cornell University, . USA
Anja Rudnick, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Nan Wiegersma, Fitchborg State College, Fitchburg, USA
Marlene Kim, Rutgers University, New Brunswick,USA
Lynn Duggan, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Dr.Mira Shiva, VHAI/AIDAN, Delhi, India
Martha de la Fuentes, Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Wiert Wiertsema, Policy Coordinator, Both Ends, The Netherlands
Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, Professor of English, Dhaka University, Bangladesh
Ruhul Quddus Babu, Advocate, Supreme Court, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Abed Raja, General Secretary, Metropolitan Bar Association, Dhaka, Bangladesh
S.M.Nazrul Islam, Office Secretary, Dhaka Lawyers Association (Ainjibi Samiti), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Aminul Islam, Lawyer, Judge Court, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Md Mukbul Ahmed, Advocate, Bangladesh
A.K.M. Shafikul Islam, Advocate and Chairman, Legal Aid Multiple Programme, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Md.Abdur Rahim Matubbur, Advocate, Judge Court, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Stephanie Howard, A Seed European Office, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Brigitte Anderegg, Solifonds, Zurich, Switserland
Binda Pandey, GEFONT International Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal
Michelle Jacobs, Bangladesh People's Solidarity Centre
Athar Ali, Multi-Cultural Organisation/Norwegian Migrant Forum/
Ex-Alternate Member of Parliament, Norway
Peter M.Johansen, Foreign Editor, Klassekampen, Norway
Arnljot Ask, International Secretary, AKP, Norway
Johanne Bergkvist, Leader Steering Committee, Red Youth, Norway
K.M.Danielsen, Vice-President, Red Electoral Alliance, Norway
Jeanne Dijkstra, (Retired Scientist,) Wageningen Agricultural University, The Netherlands
Narendra Singh, (Retired Scientist,) CFTRI Mysore, India and CPI(ML), European Liaison Office Coordinator
B.Skanthakumar, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London/ Committee for Democracy and Justice in Sri Lanka
Biju Mathew, Asst.Professor of Business, Rider University, NJ, USA
Sangeeta Kamat, Asst.Professor of Education, Brooklyn College, NY, USA
Sally Harding, Freelance Editor, United Kingdom
Charlotte Holkam, Solicitor, United Kingdom
Nick Collins, Lecturer, Northbrook College, United Kingdom
Nina Danino, Film-maker, Architectral Association, School of Architecture, United Kingdom
Guy Sherwin, Lecturer, Wolverdampton University, United Kingdom
Barbara Meter, Film-maker, United Kingdom
Nicolas Hildyard, Sarah Sexton, Tracey Clunies Ross, Larry Lohman,
The Cornerhouse, United Kingdom
J.Theunisse,
M.Heine,
J.Postema,
D.Peters,
F.Theunisse,
J.C.M.Theunisse,
Marika Viano,
Anne Marie Botslag,
Cornelie van Waegeningh,
Tineke Tetteroo,
Petra v/d Velde,
J.C.IJssel de Schepper,
Vennifer Francis,
Heikki Wimuri,
Maria Lucia Borba,
Francois Brikke,
Nigel Browne,
Eveline Bolt,
L.Houttuin,
Dick de Jong,
Mohsena Islam,
Wazed Ali,
Rehana Akhter,
Anita van der Laan,
Teun Bastemeyer,
Ineke van Hoof,
M.P.Lammerink
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PRESS RELEASE
POLICE REPRESSION
AGAINST LANDLESS FISHERFOLK
IN THE SATKHIRA DISTRICT OF BANGLADESH
On July 27th last, four persons including the landless woman leader Zaheda Begum were killed, when police personnel opened fire on the landless occupants of shrimp cultivation fields located in Kaliganj and Debahata thana of Satkhira, a border District of Bangladesh. The violent attack in which according to a report in the daily Bhorer Kagoz some 250 persons were wounded (1), has triggered District-wide mass protests in Satkhira, and has, moreover, fuelled national-level indignation from the side of opposition political parties, including the BNP, and from various coalitions of social organisations. When confronted with facts about this incident and about other recent cases of police violence at a meeting of the ruling party, the Awami League, Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, however, has raised the spectre of a 'conspiracy' to taint the government's image.... (2)
Public indignation over the incident is especially large in view of the apparent duplicity in the government's attitude towards the landless people who claim rights over wetlands in Satkhira. Over the last few years, wetlands in this Districts have been the focus of conflicting claims by landless fisherfolk and their supportive organisations on the one hand, and by big businessmen who want to get leases in order to use these same wetlands for the development of commercial shrimp cultivation on the other hand. Whereas elsewhere in Bangladesh the expansion of commercial shrimp cultivation has been contested on the grounds that such fish culture is highly damaging in environmental terms, - in Satkhira, landless fisherfolk who traditionally have had access to the wetlands, have taken recourse to legal regulations concerning 'fallow' land in order to defend their claims.
Thus, representatives of the landless fisherfolk in 1996 approached the Krishok Federation, a national-level peasant organisation, and requested it to help defend their claims to the wetlands on the basis of existing government laws regarding land ceilings and wetlands, by instituting a case in the High Court. Thanks to the legal aid which was thus provided by the Krishok Federation, the High Court did indeed issue an injunction prohibiting the granting of leases for shrimp cultivation, thus enabling some 1200 families of fisherfolk to legally reside in the nine waterbodies ( ghers') contested. Moreover, according to newspaper reports published in May last, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has herself given political support to this court injunction against the businessmen seeking to get leases for the wetlands (3).
On April 24 of this year, the district administrator of Satkhira, evidently faced with pressure from local leaders of the government party, nonetheless issued leases for the wetlands. Several weeks later he also gave the green signal to police and hired musclemen of the lease-holders to move into the wetlands so as to remove the landless families. The attacks resulted in a large number of wounded, but did not go unopposed. The landless themselves took to the streets, demanding an intervention by the Prime Minister, and various District level organisations brought out processions supporting their claims. Reacting to the protests, the Minister for Land issued a statement announcing that the Regional Commissioner (for Khulna) had been given the task to make an on-the-spot investigation regarding the violent expulsion of the landless from the ghers. (4)
While it is unclear what has been the outcome of this planned investigation, subsequent events surely indicate the lack of any effective government policy to prevent the escalation of police violence. For on July 27 last, police personnel, once again instructed to do so by the district administrator of Satkhira, opened fire on the landless fisherfolk who had succeeded in re-taking position in the wetlands. And this time, the outcome was far more tragic than was the outcome of the first incident, that occurred in May: four landless people died in the firing, including a leader of the Kisani Sabha (Peasant Women's Association), Zaheda Begum. According to a report by the organising secretary of the Krishok Federation, Liaer Khan, who visited Satkhira several days after the incident, 16 landless persons had to be hospitalized, with bullet wounds and other serious injuries.
The July 27 incident, which took place at a moment when public anger over police murders in custody and other police abuses was already growing in Bangladesh, appears to have unified the population of Satkhira against the district administration. Within days, people belonging to different shades of political opinion formed an action council which brought out a mass demonstration, calling for the resignation of the District Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police.(5) Supporters of the landless in the District have registered a legal complaint against the murders of Zaheda and others. And nationally, political parties of the Right and the Left have issued statements supporting the claims of the landless. (6) The Krishok Federation and the Kisani Sabha, at a rally held in the capital Dhaka, held on August 7, have demanded the trial of those who murdered the landless, proper medical treatment for the wounded, and institution of a high-level investigation into the incident.
We call upon human rights organisations worldwide to similarly express their sympathy with the cause of the landless fisherfolk of Satkhira, by putting effective pressure on Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and by demanding that she put a halt to police violence and to injustices against landless people. Shortly after the May incidents in Satkhira, a Letter of Appeal calling upon the Prime Minister to form Task Force so as to ensure the legal access of landless people to food, property and a secure life, was drafted and signed by a wide range of reknowned intellectuals, including Susan George, four leading members of the European Parliament, and prominent Bangladeshi academicians. (7) Neither this Letter of Appeal nor the broad indignation among the Bangladeshi public seems to have convinced Sheikh Hasina that she needs to change gear. Powerful intervention of international human rights organisations, thus, seems to be the need of the hour.
The Bangladesh People's Solidarity Centre
Amsterdam, August 19, 1998
References:
(1) Bhorer Kagoz, July 31, 1998;
(2) Amir Khasru, AL's Conspiracy Theory', Holiday, August 14, 1998;
(3) Daily Ittefaq, May 11, 1998;
(4) Daily Ittefaq, May 15, 1998
(5) Dainik Janakantha, July 31, 1998;
(6) ibid, e,g. statement of condemnation by BNP's Vice-President;
(7) see pressrelease South Asia Citizens' Web, July 9, 1998.