Eviction without relocation is anti-people, anti-poor
ONCE again, the poor have had to bear the brunt of what is understood as developmental activity. Sattala slum in Mahakhali which housed about five thousand people has been razed within a matter of hours. The residents who are mostly poor apparel workers and transport workers find themselves in the streets, forced to bivouac under the open sky with their children, the aged and the sick. They had lived in the area for thirty years. It is alleged that not all residents were given time enough to retrieve their belongings and no notice of eviction was served; but this is refuted by the officials concerned.
New Age on Friday published a moving report accompanied by a photograph on the sudden plight of the poor people faced with the onslaught of the bulldozer. According to the report, the stated purpose of the demolition drive was to recover land (5 acres and 28 decimals) for construction of the physiotherapy college. The land, it was also stated, belongs to the health directorate.
Slum dwelling is not an enviable situation in life and the very existence of a slum is symbolic of inequality and exploitation. But slums should disappear in the process of economic uplift of the people and not via the bulldozer. Rehabilitation of the slum dwellers is the key question here. And there is a court ruling that no eviction can be effected without rehabilitation. This court ruling is repeatedly violated by the authorities. Even if from the legalistic point of view the government has done no wrong in reclaiming its own land, it has certainly erred in handling the human aspect of the matter. And it is vain to talk of legality when a court verdict has been violated.
The government could postpone for years the relocation of tannery factories and harmful industrial plants but was quick to run the bulldozer over the dwellings of the poor. In the event of the sudden and peremptory eviction the pro-people credentials of the government will be seriously marred.
Source : Editorial, NewAge
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/aug/07/edit.html
New Age on Friday published a moving report accompanied by a photograph on the sudden plight of the poor people faced with the onslaught of the bulldozer. According to the report, the stated purpose of the demolition drive was to recover land (5 acres and 28 decimals) for construction of the physiotherapy college. The land, it was also stated, belongs to the health directorate.
Slum dwelling is not an enviable situation in life and the very existence of a slum is symbolic of inequality and exploitation. But slums should disappear in the process of economic uplift of the people and not via the bulldozer. Rehabilitation of the slum dwellers is the key question here. And there is a court ruling that no eviction can be effected without rehabilitation. This court ruling is repeatedly violated by the authorities. Even if from the legalistic point of view the government has done no wrong in reclaiming its own land, it has certainly erred in handling the human aspect of the matter. And it is vain to talk of legality when a court verdict has been violated.
The government could postpone for years the relocation of tannery factories and harmful industrial plants but was quick to run the bulldozer over the dwellings of the poor. In the event of the sudden and peremptory eviction the pro-people credentials of the government will be seriously marred.
Source : Editorial, NewAge
http://www.newagebd.com/2010/aug/07/edit.html
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