Intimidation and property rights

By Amer Junaid, Caulfield, AU
29 November 2005, 18:00 PM
Across our cities, a frightening new phenomenon is quietly becoming commonplace. With pitiless disregard for the rule of law, our properties and rights are being snatched from right under our noses through extortion and violence

What is the guarantee that our own house will not be the next target of those powerful people who broke into Mr. Akbar Ali's Gulshan house (reported in newspapers) and threatened him and his family with certain death if they failed to comply with their demands of handing over their property to them? If this can happen to a respectable family man like him, what is there to stop this from happening to any property owner in Bangladesh?

We are passing through difficult times and the overall situation is not at all conducive for property owners in Bangladesh. How can we progress and develop as a sovereign nation state without our citizens being able to exercise their basic human right to own property without persecution and intimidation?