Author:
Publication: The Hindu
Date: November 5, 2001
Malda, Nov. 4. Scores of men and
women have left their homes in Bangladesh and bundled up their belongings
to sneak into the border districts of Malda, Uttar Dinajpur and Dakshin
Dinajpur of West Bengal.
Whether farmers or college professors,
these people belonging to the minority Hindu community are united in their
fear of a regime whose supporters have allegedly mounted violence against
them since last month's general election in Bangladesh.
When contacted, the Malda DM, Mr.
Ajit Ranjan Bardhan, said he was yet to get any report from police on the
migration. ``I have asked for reports. Unofficially I have heard that the
Hindus are coming from Bangladesh and a large number of them have taken
shelter in the district. I am getting reports from my own channels.''
The Dakshin Dinajpur police SP,
Mr. Anuj Sharma, said he was inquiring into the reports that Hindu families
were migrating to the district. ``The atrocities on the Hindus had in fact
started some time before the elections. The situation worsened after the
polls especially in areas where the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) won,''
said a 35-year old farmer, Mr. Haradhan Biswas, of Gaghael village in Gopalgunj
district of Bangladesh. BNP supporters had set fire and looted houses in
the villages of Rautkhamar, Mollahkandi, Tentulia and Mollarhat of Barishal
district and the atrocities are continuing, Mr. Biswas said.
He had escaped to Malda along with
his wife and two children in the dead of the night last week. He has been
given shelter by his relatives in Pakuahat village and does not plan to
return. ``You can imagine the situation in which we were forced to flee.
I could not even bring a change of clothes,'' Mr. Biswas said. ``What is
taking place in Bangladesh is forcible usurping of minority property in
the name of fundamentalism.''
Even women were not spared, he said.
``In a village near Dhaka three daughters of the same family were abducted,
raped and killed.'' The Awami League supporters, Mr. Dhiren Rabidas of
Nababgunj district and Ms. Tara Mondal of Ahora village, who had taken
shelter in the district, said, ``we had approached the Awami League leader,
Mr. Safiullah Sheikh, who told us that no guarantee could be given to help
the Hindus. He asked us to escape to India and return if there is any change
in the situation in the future.''
A professor, who teaches English
in a college in Bangladesh, has found shelter in the same village after
entering via the Hili checkpost. He has left his children at his brother's
house in Bangladesh and is on the lookout for a house in Malda to move
in his family. ``I want to sell my property and relocate here permanently,''
he says but refuses to give his name though he was travelling on his passport.
There are many others like him from
Rajshahi, Nator, Nababganj, Gomastapur districts who have taken shelter
in Baishnabnagar, Gajole, Alampur, Muchia, Pakuahat, Bamingola and other
areas of the town.
Reports from Dakshin Dinajpur said
a large number of migrants from Pabna, Sirajgunj, Bagura and Dinajpur in
Bangladesh had entered through the porous border near Hili checkpost and
were staying with relatives in Gangarampur, Tapan and Bansihari areas.
Many of them have complained that they had been threatened by the BNP workers
before the polls. ``The tragedy is even after we voted for the BNP we had
to leave our homes,'' some of them said.
- PTI
