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What happened MM! my articals/ news are not published now a days? Is it that
'you can't fight a crocodile when living in water'? Or, just a lapse,
moderators are too busy to care about! Anyway, thanks, have fun.
Sitangshu Guha
*Enemy Property Act turned Vested Property Act *
*The Catastrophe for Hindus in Bangladesh*
*By *
*R. P. Sharma & Sitangshu Guha*
June, 2006
*Spoofs of the Vested Property Act *
*Case I : *It is very clear that the term 'enemy' has its root in the
Defense Rule of Pakistan of 1965 and in the then East Pakistan Enemy
Property (Lands and Buildings) Administration and Disposal Order of 1966.
Upon the independence of Bangladesh , its government enacted two acts on
March 23, 1974 related to the issue. The first one was wooing to repeal
(abolish) the relevant "Enemy Property Ordinance" of Pakistan and vested the
properties already enlisted as 'enemy properties' in the Government i.e.,
the management and administration of previous 'enemy properties' were
entrusted with the government of Bangladesh. On the other hand, second act
aimed at bringing the properties of non-residents of Bangladesh under the
vested category which created scope for fresh enlistment of some properties,
including the properties of religious minorities residing in India
irrespective they were residing there on permanent or temporary basis
despite the fact that this act was not intended only for the religious
minorities. This implies that (i) there could be no new enlistment of
properties legally under the enemy/vested/non-resident category after March
23, 1974 . In spite of this fact, fresh enlistment has been still continuing
through various government circulars issued from time to time thereafter,
(ii) the government itself has became the owner of already vested (enemy)
properties which is questionable from legal point of view.
*Case II : *It is universal truth that Bangladesh earned its independence
and severed its ties with Pakistan through the heroic war liberation 35
years back, meaning that the People's Republic of Bangladesh is neither a
part nor a successor of Pakistan since March 26, 1971 . Also neither
Bangladesh nor India waged or declared any war against each other. So
logically the enemy of Pakistan (i.e. India ) cannot be an enemy of
Bangladesh . But by virtue of the continuance enforcement order promulgated
on 10th of April 1971 all the laws operative in the then Pakistan on or
before March 25, 1971 remained valid in the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
Though the Enemy Property Act of Pakistan was repealed / amended through
various acts/ordinances enacted or promulgated after the Independence of
Bangladesh, but irony is that no government of Bangladesh repealed the
effectiveness of the Defense of Pakistan Ordinance (Act XXIII of 1965) of
1965. As a result Bangladesh till this year remained as at a state of war
with India , it seems.
• *The Vested Property Act is Violation of the Constitution of Bangladesh*
The Vested Property Act is violation of the Constitution of Bangladesh. The
following articles will be very much relevant to explain how this Act is
anti-constitutional:
*Article 11: Democracy and human rights*
The Republic shall be a democracy in which fundamental human rights and
freedoms and respect for the dignity and worth of the human person shall be
guaranteed and in which effective participation by the people through their
elected representatives in administration at all levels shall be ensured.
*Article 13: Principles of ownership*
The people shall own or control the instruments and means of production and
distribution, and with this end in view ownership shall assume the following
forms-
• state ownership, that is ownership by the State on behalf of the people
through the creation of an efficient and dynamic nationalised public sector
embracing the key sectors of the economy;
• co-operative ownership, that is ownership by co-operatives on behalf of
their members within such limits as may be prescribed by law; and
• private ownership, that is ownership by individuals within such limits as
may be prescribed by law.
*Article 27: Equality before law*
All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of
law.
*Article 28: Discrimination on grounds of religion, etc*
(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of
religion, race caste, sex or place of birth.
(2) Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and
of public life.
(3) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place
of birth be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition
with regard to access to any place of public entertainment or resort, or
admission to any educational institution.
(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making special
provision in favour of women or children or for the advancement of any
backward section of citizens.
Thus the vested property act with all its attributes is a gross violation of
all the above stated articles of Bangladesh Constitution.
• *Restoration of Vested Property Act 2001 and its Amendment in 2002*
After the fall of General Ershad, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the
election 1991 and formed government which, during their whole period till
mid 1996, did not touch to do anything with the Vested Property Act and thus
the status of the act remained as it was done till the Ershad regime.
Then Bangladesh Awami League upon winning the election in June 1996 formed
the government. Being the founder party of Bangladesh with "secularism" as
one of its ideologies, the Hindus in Bangladesh had their much expectation
to this party that they would have done a final settlement of this black law
of Vested Properties. There were several demonstrations & representations at
various levels for completely abolishing the Act and several recommendations
were made, few of which are cited below:
1. Vested Property Act, as an encroachment on the law of inheritance of
"Enemy Property Act", should be abolished. More so, the context under which
the "Enemy Property Act" emerged, ceases from the date of proclamation of
Independence of Bangladesh in 1971, and there exists a Friendship Treaty
with India.
1. A list containing details (name, address, amount of land and other
assets dispossessed by type and year of dispossession, dag, khatian, mouza,
current status etc.) of those affected by EPA/VPA should be published by the
Government of Bangladesh.
1. All activities related to the identification and enlistment of any
property as vested should be banned, immediately. In this regard, a
declaration in the mass media should be the immediate action of the
democratic government.
1. All vested property under the custody of the government should be
leased out to real owners or their legal heirs who are permanent residents
of Bangladesh till the final settlement of the problem. In this regard
preference should be assigned in accordance with the law of inheritance.
1. No property should be taken to the custody of the vested property
administration if the owners of the property of their legal inheritors
(co-shares) are in possession of that property.
1. All 99 years leases of vested properties should be declared null and
void and the ownership rights of the original owners or their inheritors
(co-sharers) should be established if they are the *bona-fide *citizens of
Bangladesh .
1. All vested deity property and places of cremation should be unvested
and brought under public trust. The leased-out or sold-out properties
belonging to this category should be declared void.
1. Law of inheritance should be enforced with an adequate provision for
women inheritance. If the male heirs of the property are absent and the
females are permanently resident in Bangladesh , the property should be
leased out to them (women) until a final settlement is made.
1. The Government of Bangladesh should be pressurized to repeal this
sort of black law for the greater interest of better relationship with India
; otherwise the exodus of Hindu minorities will be a great problem for India
The Government led by Awami League took five years to place and pass a bill
in the parliament on April 11, 2001 in the title of "Restoration of Vested
Property Act, 2001" (Act No. 16 of 2001) nearing to end of their tenure.
However, the act rarely depicted the demands made by the Hindus and could
not help much providing solutions to the effected community of Hindus,
rather made few issues more complicated for various reasons. There are
several spoofs within the Act.
The justifying explanation of the Act No.16 of 2001 mixed up the issues of
the effected Hindus who never disbelieved or refused to be the citizens of
Bangladesh and are residing here permanently with the issues of few people
who never believed or agreed to be the citizens of Bangladesh, even this
later category of people, understandably Muslims, could not accept the
creation of Bangladesh, no matter whether they are residing or not residing
here. The merit of the bill passed was more than dangerous for the Hindus
irrespective of having vested properties under the category of co-sharing,
i.e. few family members migrated to India and few are living in Bangladesh
of an earlier joint family, properties of those families whose all members
migrated to India or elsewhere from Bangladesh, properties of worship places
like temples, cremation places etc. Till the act No.16 of 2001 was passed,
few properties were under the custody of Hindus by leasing for several
years. The act ordered to handover all these categories of vested properties
to the one Custodian under the District Administration immediately,
otherwise, the administration shall have the authority to acquire those at
any time with or without serving any notice to the respective parties, if
any. Once the properties were handed over by the owner/possession owner or
acquired by the District Administration, there have been two provisions
articulated in the order to freshly handover the property through the
leasing processes of different terms from 12 or 15 or 99 years depending on
the nature of the property. The first option is that the District
Administration shall float open tenders for handing over the possession and
the process will be completed through formal bids. Anyone and everyone shall
have the privilege to participate at these tender processes. Then who will
win the race, obviously not any Hindu who has already become financially
weaken for the reasons needless to explain, and thus the ownership by
leasing of these properties shall be bought by the richer class alias the
Muslims whatsoever the price no matter. The second option there has been is
that if any effected person/family wants to claim the ownership of such
properties, they could appeal to a tribunal – the formation of which is also
articulated in the same act. Now, once the case is filed in the tribunal, it
would require several years, even might be a never-ending process for a
final order to come out. That's not the end upon settlement by the tribunal,
options are kept for moving to the higher courts. Thus, the financially
backboneless Hindus shall not have the capability to run such cases over the
years, and ultimately the properties shall remain at the custody of the
District Administration. Then, through the same process of floating open
tender, the ownership in the name of leasing will go to the richer community
alias the Muslims.
Through the Restoration of Vested Properties Act 2001, vested properties
under the custody of co-sharers shall have to be handed over to the
Custodian alias the Government, though the co-sharers are none but the
owners of these properties by virtue of the law of Hindu succession. This
means ones own property shall have to be handed over to the Government which
again is violation of basic property right of the owners, not only in
Bangladesh , in the whole world.
The Vested Property Return Act does not adequately address the catastrophe.
An UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance raised several criticisms
on it as follows:
"It appears, however, that this bill would present serious problems.
According to the non-governmental sources, the bill provides that properties
legally vested under the ownership of the Government and those declared to
be enemy or vested property after 16 February 1969 will not be considered as
vested property after the said period. Most Hindu property, however, was
declared vested property after that date. The bill also states that the
proprietorship status of the vested property will not be challenged if the
property was transferred to the Government, a government institution, or to
a private individual, has been sold or has been handed over permanently by
the Government at the directives of a court. It will not even be possible to
challenge such cases in court. According to the non-governmental
organizations consulted, these provisions are contrary to the spirit and
objectives of the bill. The bill also provides that if the original owners
do not submit their ownership documents to a court within 180 days following
promulgation of the law, the Government will acquire their property. The
Hindu community considers this time period too short. Lastly, the bill
provides that in the event of the decease of the original owner, rights of
inheritance shall apply in accordance with Hindu religious personal laws.
Hindu women would therefore be automatically excluded from inheritance,
since Hindu religious personal laws do not accord any rights of inheritance
to women."
Despite those loopholes, the Restoration of Vested Property Act 2001 had few
good points such as that requires the Government to return all the land at
least to the few Hindus. This Act only applies to the original owners or
their heirs who have remained citizens of Bangladesh and not to those Hindus
who fled the country and resettled in India with full of their families and
/ or leaving behind no properties or heirs in Bangladesh . In any case,
again it does not provide for compensation for or return of properties that
the Government has sold.
However, upon the October 2001 election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(BNP) led 4-party coalition formed the government including the islamist
elements. This government arranged and passed an amendment bill in the
parliament to the "Restoration of Vested Property Act 2001" on 26 November
2002 , which has virtually shelved the return of the confiscated properties
to the Hindus. Because this amendment allows the Government unlimited time
to return the vested properties and those are to remain under the control of
Deputy Commissioners until a tribunal settles ownership. The amendment also
gives the Deputy Commissioners the right to lease such properties until they
are returned to their owners.
• *Immeasurable Hindu Properties Grabbed by the Goons of all times*
How much properties of Hindus have been snatched away through the then Enemy
Properties Act turned Vested Properties Act, there is no exact statistics.
Few research and analytical jobs have been accomplished and limited form of
document has been published by few NGOs and persons on their own, however,
these could not cover the whole massacre done.
Taking the advantages of loopholes remained within the Enemy Properties Act
turned Vested Properties Act, since its inception in 1965, the goons in all
times till date have snatched away millions of acres of land properties,
buildings, business & industries, places of temples & cremation etc. of
millions of Hindu families of the then East Pakistan and the present
Bangladesh. Understandably, the goons belong to the majority community of
Muslims, however, the dominating strata of this community in terms of
political and social status & position who have been all the way well
connected with the governmental administrative and law & order enforcement
offices. The section of land and property grabbers of the Hindus has their
widespread network starting from the grass-root to the highest level of
local/village/union representatives/administration, land administration, law
& enforcement department, magistracy & judiciary, ministry/secretariat and
the parliament. Most of the grabbers belong to the major political parties
existing in Bangladesh . They use to apply various means and ways to grab
the land and other properties of the Hindus. The notorious activities they
perform on their way include preparing fake/false documents of land and
properties (e.g. land registration), forcefully take the registration of
such properties from the targeted Hindus, especially in case of the
co-sharers whose few family members out-migrated from Bangladesh .
As such, there is hardly any Hindu available who or whose family has not
been effected either directly or indirectly by the Enemy Properties Act
turned Vested Properties Act due to its inherent nature of robbing the Hindu
community of its property. The number of effected members is increasing
everyday due the non-stopped process of grabbing Hindu properties.
• *Effect of Enemy Property and Vested Property Acts*
Various types of effects have been started taking place on Hindus in this
part of present Bangladesh (the then East Pakistan) since the division of
India by 2-nation theory for various reasons which are briefly described at
section A of this article. The Enemy Property Act and Vested Property Act
just cumulated those effects to the Hindus to be more and more weakened in
all aspects of life and society and at one stage they became bound to
out-migrate from Bangladesh with empty hands and with whole of uncertainty
for generations together, which ultimately results diminishing the Hindus
from Bangladesh .
• *Recommendations*
At section G of this article nine recommendations were made, however, the
Restoration of Vested Property Act 2001 could cover very few of those. Thus,
further following recommendations are strongly made to implement:
• "Restoration of Vested Property Act 2001" to be amended as follows:
• Amendment of "Restoration of Vested Property Act 2001" on 26 November
2002 shall have to be repealed.
• All recommendations made at section G hereinabove must be fully
reflected.
• While amended, a section must be included to clearly differentiate
• the Hindus who are citizens of Bangladesh for thousands of years whose
few family members might have been out-migrated or not and irrespective of
co-sharers and whose properties have been fallen in the category of "vested
property" irrespective of present custodianship status,
from
• the Muslims or others who never believed or agreed to be the citizens of
Bangladesh, even these people could not accept the creation of Bangladesh,
no matter whether they in-migrated or not in-migrated here from India or the
then West Pakistan or elsewhere after 1947 and whether they are presently
residing or not residing here and whose properties might have been fallen in
the category of "vested property" irrespective of present custodianship
status.
• "Restoration of Vested Property Act 2001" should be implemented only upon
its amendment as stated above.
• An "International Monitoring Cell" abided by the "Universal Declaration
of Human Rights" adopted on December 10, 1948 , shall have to be formed in
order to monitor the implementation process of "Restoration of Vested
Property Act 2001" upon its amendment. The proposed monitoring cell shall
consist of expert representatives from:
• United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Amnesty International
• Government of Bangladesh
• Government of India
• Government of Pakistan
• Government of United Kingdom
• Leaders of the Effected Communities in Bangladesh or elsewhere
• Representative of any other relevant organization
The Terms of Reference of this monitoring cell shall be defined and well
accepted by the parties to be included therein.
• *Appealing Conclusion*
This is an appeal on behalf of the religious minorities and indigenous
people of Bangladesh to the whole world community including political
parties and government of Bangladesh, UN bodies, humanitarian organizations,
government of welfare, secular & democratic states, democratic institutes,
secular forces, media and erudite societies to formulate and come forward to
uphold and establish all basic rights of one of the most destitute
populations numbering around 15 million and save them from the atrocities
through a black law firstly emerged in the name of "Enemy Property Act" and
then turned to "Vested Property Act" for decades together.
This is the moral responsibility of the world community to save a large
section of world people with rich historical backgrounds of civilization and
cultural heritage from being diminished for the greater interest of the
mankind.
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