They came and shouted: move from here

The house being set afire by a policeman and a person in a pink shirt as seen in an Al Jazeera video belonged to Chumki Mardi, a 55-year-old Santal woman. 

The incident took place on November 6 afternoon during a drive to evict Santals from the disputed land of Sahebganj-Bagda sugarcane farm in Gobindaganj of Gaibandha. 

“They came and shouted: move from here,” Chumki told this correspondent while showing the location of the house yesterday morning. It was the first shanty in a row of about 50.

“I ran away as I got very scared,” she said. “They first torched my home and later other Santal houses.”

Many other Santals echoed Chumki's statement.

At least 2,500 shanties of Bangalees and Santals were razed during the eviction drive on November 6.

The next day, the Rangpur Sugar Mills authorities ploughed the land to grow sugarcane. Nobody would believe that there was a human settlement  here just a month back.  

Most of the evicted Santals are now living in tents provided by the Red Cross in Joypur and Madarpur villages adjacent to the land.

Chumki took shelter in Joypur. The indigenous woman and others from her community in the two villages were shown the video by this correspondent.

Local journalists and other people, who were present during the drive, identified the person in the pink shirt as an official of the sugar factory, holding a managerial post.

Contacted, the factory official said, “I went there in the morning [on November 6]. But I don't remember being there at the time of arson.”

Shown an image grabbed from the Al Jazeera video showing the man in pink, he said, “If you think it's me, I have nothing to say.”

The man is not clearly recognisable in the footage.

The factory official also said, “Santal people illegally occupied our land and we wanted to get it back.”

And the industries ministry wrote to the home ministry, asking for necessary steps to recover the land, he added.

The Daily Star has learnt from old documents that Santals owned most of the land before the government acquired it in the 50s.

Though the land was acquired for sugarcane farming to produce raw materials for the Rangpur Sugar Mills Ltd at Mohimaganj in Gobindaganj, a portion of it was leased out for cultivating different other crops, flouting an agreement of 1962.

During the eviction drive on November 6, three Santals were killed in an ensuing clash with sugar mills staff and police.

At least 25 people, including nine cops, were injured in the incident. 

About the policeman seen taking part in arson, local sources said he is an official from Gaibandha Sadar Police Station.

He got a transfer order recently, they added.

“The police official who set fire to that house was from Gaibandha Sadar Police Station. His superior officer was also present there,” said one of the witnesses present during the incident.

The Daily Star could not verify the versions regarding the identities of the two persons seen taking part in arson in the footage.  

Contacted, Subrata Kumar Sarker, officer-in-charge of Gobindaganj Police Station, said they were investigating the matter.

“Without investigation, I cannot make any comment about who set fire to the house. The face of the policeman is not recognisable in the video,” he said.

Wishing anonymity, a police official said since nine cops were injured on the morning of November 6 during the clash with Santals, additional police personnel came from Gaibandha, Dinajpur, Bogra and Rangpur.

Witnesses said police were furious with the Santals. The indigenous people were driven out of home without being given a chance to take their belongings, they added. 

Kalyan Kumar Chakrabarty, sub-inspector of Gobindaganj Police Station, filed a case on November 6, accusing 42 named Santals and 300 to 400 unnamed people.

In the case, he mentioned which police officials fired how many rounds. But nothing was said about any incident of arson.