Santals protest ‘false’ extortion case in Gaibandha

Santal men and women from Raja Birat and Kamdia villages staged a rally at Kamdia Bazar's Tinmatha intersection in Gaibandha this evening, protesting what they called a false extortion case filed against them by their alleged attackers.

The protest was led by British Soren, head of the Raja Birat Manjhi community and a law student at Gaibandha Law College. He alleged that Rajahar union chairman Rafiqul Islam and his brothers had been illegally occupying two acres of Santal land for years with forged documents.

"When villagers tried to cultivate the land, they were attacked," Soren said, adding that a land deed used by Rafiqul had already been proven fraudulent in court.

On August 15, Rafiqul and his brothers allegedly attacked land owner Shyambala Hembrom and her family with sticks when they went to plant rice, leaving four people injured. Shyambala later filed a case against Rafiqul and 14 others, but no arrests were made, Soren said.

In retaliation, Rafiqul's brother Shafiqul Islam filed a case on August 19, accusing 20 Santal men and women of demanding Tk 5 lakh in extortion. "They beat us, and then they accuse us of extortion," Soren said at the rally. "We demand withdrawal of the false case, and the removal of OC Bulbul Islam and Chairman Rafiqul Islam."

He further accused another brother, Mezbaul Islam, of being a fugitive in a separate case of assaulting a Santal woman earlier this year, but still roaming freely in the area.

Backing the protesters, Gaibandha Indigenous-Bengali Solidarity Council convener and lawyer Sirajul Islam Babu said, "This incident proves how vulnerable the indigenous people are in Bangladesh."

Contacted, Gobindaganj Police Station OC Bulbul Islam confirmed that Shafiqul had filed an extortion and assault case against the Santals, but said the initial probe found the extortion allegation to be false. In the Santals' case, he said some accused had secured bail, including Rafiqul, from the High Court.