India: Bangladeshi minority rights defenders charged for putting posters considered subversive
Event- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2016
- Event Description
The residents of three settlement camps earmarked for erstwhile Indian enclaves put few posters at their camps, depicting their woes and pathos and demanding early solution of their plights. On 27th July at around 9.30 am, a police force from Dinhata police station came to "Dinhata Krishi Farm Temporary Settlement Camp' and brought down all the posters at the gate of the said camp. They took the posters and left the place. After half an hour, 4 police personnel returned back at the camp and started interrogating the present male and female residents of the camp. They asked who is responsible for putting those posters and reached in front of Room No. 12 of the camp, where Mr. Kachua Barman is living with his family. Mr. Barman is the leader of his community. The police called Mr. Barman but at that time he was out of his dwelling. At that time, Mr. Barman and others were outside the camp and were engaged as day labourer for their livelihood. Mr. Barman's wife informed the same to the police personnel. The police personnel called Mr. Barman over his mobile phone and asked him to come down to the camp within 5 minutes. While he reached at the camp, police again made queries about the person involved in putting these posters, in reply Mr. Kachua Barman replied that "the content of the posters are not offensive or illegal, and the Sub Divisional Officer, Block Development Officer and Observers for enclave settlements has came on 22nd July and captured photographs of the posters, and now you came and put down the posters but why you are asking me about who pasted these posters as putting posters is not illegal.' The police for then returned after noting down the address of Mr. Kachua Barman but after another 20 minutes they came down to the camp and took the address of Mr. Kachua Barman's employer from the wife of Mr. Barman as he was not present at the camp. Mr. Barman was informed about the fact from his wife, as the police told her that they will visit his employer. At the evening, we came to know that Mr. Kachua Barman; son of Late Khagendra Barman and Mr. Narayan Barman; son of Late Bipin Barman; both residents of Dinhata's Krishi Farm Settlement Camp have been summoned through notices to appear before the Sub Divisional Executive Magistrate- Dinhata's Court on 8th August 2016. Both were being charged under section 107 of Criminal Procedure Code vide NGR Case No. 433/16 dated 27.07.2016. The whole police action was against the Constitutional guarantees for freedom of expression and association and an act to throttle the aspiration of a section of populace, who were brought to this country with fanfare and political hullaballoo and left to live a sub- humane life. The acts of Dinhata police station predisposed for intimidate the luckless enclave dwellers, who spent most of the life in misery and now compounded with uncertainties. It has been also reported that a large number of erstwhile enclave dwellers who have been staying at settlement camps from the very first day of their arrival in India, deprived of citizenship and human rights. They are kept in dark about their future and governmental initiatives related to their compensation and rehabilitation schemes. It is disappointing that even though they had come here last year, no initiative has been taken to provide any sort of employment to the men and women. It should be mention here that their plights and uncertainties reached at a point of frustration, which was evident by the fact that few of the residents of these camps returned to Bangladesh out of total hopeless situation in India.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- Minority Rights
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Summary for Publications
On the 27th of July 2016, Mr. Kachua Barman and Mr. Narayan Barman, two MASUM volunteers and Bangladeshi dwellers of the __�Dinhata Krishi Farm Temporary Settlement Camp', near the Indian border with Bangladesh, were charged for putting posters considered breach of public tranquillity by Indian authorities