Sunday, June 1, 2008
Noakhali Victims and Persecution Infinite
Palash Biswas
I am born Indian. I will die an Indian.
Looking back to my childhood, we never imagined to be discriminated or persecuted! Those were glorious days of sixties full of National enthusiasm of a new born republic. Only disturbing element was the disturbances in North East and Kashmir along with Assam anti Bengali Riots. I felt the heat of the ethnic tension as my father, Pulin Babu worked to rehbilitate the Victims in Assam. Later, Chhotokaka went there to help the Bengali Refugees in affairs of medical care. In 1964, Didima, the lady from the Orakandi Thakur Bari migrated from East Pakistan and landed at our home for a shelter in her only daughter , my Jethima`s family.
Barring those memories, we never understood the phenomenon of persecution anywhere in this world. Though I as a child used to visit extensively the refugee colonies, Bengali as well as Sikh and encountered the Partion victioms with experiences of the Holocaust. But I believed it was a bad dream. I hoped that the memories of another day may not haunt our generation. We grew on that line. In 1984, after Operation Blue Star, I really understood the meaning of Ethnic Hatred. Later, in eighties living and working as a professional journalist in Meerut I witnessed the horror of being amidst Holocaust with experiences like maliana and hashimpur Massacres. But I always believed that we partion victim refugees have crossed the Bleeding Rivers once for never again.
Reading `Exodus’ and `Mila 18’ by Leon Uris I came to feel the Jew Experiences. But I never expected to happen this with our lot.
It happened.
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Persecution is the active, systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group or individual. The most common forms are ethnic persecution, religious persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms.
Persecution of Hindus refers to the religious persecution inflicted upon Hindus. Hindus have been historically persecuted during Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent and during the Goa Inquisition. In modern times, Hindus in Kashmir, Pakistan and Bangladesh have also suffered persecution.
Rescued by Bapu, the resettled Noakhali victims face prosecution in Independent India, in the coastal areas of Orrissa.Though The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, is celebrated with reverence all over the country. He is the man who played a significant role in achiveing independence for India from the British Empire with his simplicity and strong will power.We have forgot the life and ideology of Bapu, thus the son of Biju Patnaik, a national leader himself, the Orrissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik sees to have no symapathy with the partition victims. I visited the cosatal area situated in the coastal area of Orrissa nearby Paradip, a dreamproject of Biju and sawthe agony which was shared by the father of the nation at the time when Punjab and Bengal was bleeding and New delhi celebrated with glittering the new found power for the caste Hindu Ruling classes.
The prime minister Dr Manmohan singh inaugruated the centenarycelebration of Bapu`s styagrah in South Afrika forgetting the partition victims and their plight. Gujrat leaders enjoyed Munnabhai Lage raho and Gandhigiri has overtaken Indian Politics as well as the ideology of Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi.
Lage Raho Munnabhai, the Bollywood blockbuster has reinvented Mahatma Gandhi for an entirely new generation of Indians. Munnabhai shows the way on screen, but can Gandhigiri work in real life.CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, engaged the audience in a debate on Gandhi and Gandhigiri. A poll conducted some time ago found that 68 per cent said Gandhi’s ideals can work in real life India today, 19 per cent said they can’t work and 16 per cent were undecided.Gandhi was no emperor, not a military general, not a president nor a prime minister. He was neither pacifist nor a cult guru. Who was Gandhi ? If anything, Mohandas K. Gandhi was a constant experimenter. Spirituality, religion, self-reliance, health, education, clothing, drinks, medicine, child care, status of women, no field escaped his search for truth. His thoughts when appeared in the form of talk or article became official words of action with the masses of India. He was a man who did what he said and led an exemplary and a transparent life. Not many people can claim "My life is an open book". What the ruling classes do, it is quite evident if you care enough to understand the psyche of Noakhali victims residing in Kendrapara district of orrissa.
Gandhi's work in the Noakhali District of Bengal during 1946 and 1947 provides a good example of the Mahatma's delicate balance between despair and the faith of a saint. As he began his stay in Noakhali, he told a prayer meeting that "today I am going through the greatest test of my life. I am now to find if the road I follow is really the true road for the people of this country."40 The test of Noakhali brought Gandhi a combination of comfort and despair, for even as he realized the failure of the people to practice Ahimsa, he recognized the truth and power of non-violence.
It’s all very well for the Indian government to be hospitable and generous to refugees from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but the ground reality is different. Settled in Orissa, the preferential treatment meted out to them by the government has become the cause of much resentment and bitterness among the locals. Partition victim all refugees from Punjab have not only rehabiliated , but they got Indian citizenship one and all. Most of the Bengali refugees, particularli who settled outside Bengal, are dalits, the lowest communities of Hindus in Bengal society. Bengal caste Hindu leadership had not been interested ever for their rehabiltiation or citizenship. Contrarily, the locals in different states have been much more sympathetic and helpful. As it is proved once again in Orrissa.The partition victim dalit refugees settled in Orrissa are being targetted and implicated most unlawfully and arbitrarily. Their sole offence is that they do spek in their mother tongue and that is Bengali. Majority of them possessed Voter`s Identity Card, Ration Card, Pand Card, Land reciept and most importantly Migration dispersal slipissued by Refugee Rehabilitation Directorate, Government of west Bengal dating back in 1956-57. These peole have availed benefits under various states and centre sponsored schemes erlier on the basis of refugee policy for partition victims in compliance with assurances given by the nationalleaders like Bapu, Nehru, Patel and Dr Rajendra Prasad. They are bonifide citizens in accordance with the citizenship Act of India, 1955, of a sovereign country. Most of them had to flee from Erswhile East Pakistan due to independence of two dominions called India and Pakistan, created by dividing Bengal and Punjab on the basis of two nation theory. The influx continued as population transfer on religious lines failed and minorities chose to stay on their motherland across the border., but political and religious prosecution continued.These Bengali refugees settled in the coastal areas of Orrissa are in possession of refugee resettlement documents issued by then labour ministery , Government of India. Hence, all dates of their migration and resettlement are clearly indiacated that they settled much before the cutt off date 16 December, 1971 fixed by government of India, erlier in 1956 to 1958. Most importantly the Oria speaking population, political parties and media stand united with them and support their claim for citizenship.
The road to Ramnagar begins from the link bridge on Kendrapara-Paradeep national highway.The road itself is the symbol of the backwardness of Mahakalpara Block which comprises of old Oria, Santhal and refugee colonies.I had to travel the route on a scooter, driven by a social activist, Ravindra Nath Sarkar. Kendrapara had experienced heavy floods some days ago. The national highway was damaged and it is still under repairing. Paddy fields were affected badly. It was raining interminnently for some days.There was no shelter in between.You have to take extra sets of clothes lest getting wet, you may not change. The route was quite dangerous for driving and I had to be careful to save my hanging leg which tended to get hurt anywhere.
Mind you, This entire population of Oria, Bengali and santhals have to face a common threat very soon as Mahakalpara is proposed to consist of Special Economic Zone to get oil for an American Multi National. Iron Ore Mines refugees are not settled as yet and further desettlement is imminent.Provided all refugees, the partition victims and the victims of industrialisation unite, what may come. Rmangar is a very old settlement which have Two Cyclone Shelters built after the super cyclone, 2004 among other things. It has got Bnak, Post Office, Highschool and local market ,too. The people are independent economically as they practice fishing on large scale. The river flowing side by side Rmanagra connects it to Bay of bengal. Even the Ramnagar people get Hilsa here. Paradeep is only six KM away in air distance.
I was amazed to discover all sixty familes settled and rehabiliated in adjoing BB colony are from Noakhali, the riot victims of 1946 and onwards. No less a personality, Bapu rushed to Noakhali to stop the riots.Saved by Bapu, the partition victims of Noakhali are once again prosecuted in Orrissa. Wonderful. I met some of the eyewitnesses of the Noakhali riots and have details of the nightmare. All the sixty families belong to Debnath community which is recognised in Orrissa as Debnath. Most of the Refugees settled in Ramnagar, Kharinasi, Baulakani, Batghara, Jamboo and other gram panchayats ogf Mahakal Para Block belong to Orrissa recognised scheduled caste Namoshudra. Others belong to another dalit community as per as namoshudra, the Pod Or apundras.Apart from Noakhali, they root in Jassore, Khulna, Barisal, Faridpur, all well known for the main base of Dalit Movement in undivided India.
Bengal had one of the worst records of communal riots before the Partition of the country. It was only in Bengal that the MuslimLeague succeeded in forming ``relatively'' stable ministries in
the two decades before the British quit in 1947. The refugee infux continued as the minority prosecution in Bangladesh never stopped. Continuous influx of refugees made the life of settled and rehabiliated refugees out of Bengal very miserable as they have not got citizenship as yet and the administration knows no way to distinguish an Indian citizen refugee and a bangladeshi National.In Ramnagar itself a lady migrated in 1957 have been served eviction notice.
None of the South Asian countries are party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees which currently is ratified by 134 nations. This may reflect the unwillingness of South Asian governments to submit to international scrutiny. Though India is not a party to the Refugee Convention, the general principle prohibiting forced repatriation called non- refoulement has risen to the level of customary law, such that they bind even non-signatories.
Since the matter (entry and regulation of aliens) falls under the Union List(3), the Central Government is empowered to deal with refugees. Traditionally, the Union Cabinet has made reactive decisions with each particular refugee influx, often taking action only when the particular refugee influx went beyond the control of the Border Security Force, and the matter became political. India thus lacks a cohesive national policy for handling refugee inflows. The lack of a national Indian policy limits the ability of the State governments and Border Security Force to deal with refugees instantly, resulting in mass rejections at the frontier while policy directions are awaited or non-recognition of refugees sneaking into Indian territory.
“Refugees should not be dealt with like outsiders; they should be treated like human beings,” said Mohammad Amin, chief of Adhikar, a state level NGO. Wherever they go, they adopt the norms of the local society, its culture and lifestyle. But Utkal Bangeeya Surakshya Samiti spokesman Vijoy Shukla told me at Ramnagar under Mahakalpara Block of Kendrapara district on 24th September, 2006, that all those persons served eviction notice and noted as bangladeshi nationals, have been omitted from the voters list for the coming Pnchayat elections. Besides many others have found their names deleted. He alleged that the Bengali refugges are being deprived of human rights as birth certificate, caste certificates, ration card, bpl card, domicile card are being denied. Shukla told that the samiti is planning to launch a fresh agitation.
A former sarpanch of Ramnagar, Bijoy Shukla, who witnessed the scene, found it really cruel and inhuman. With an uncertain future in store for the students on the deportation list, attendance at the school has also thinned.
It is not verylate, last year only, the bengali settlers in Orrissa from fifties began to get the notice to evict India within seven days.Mr Shukla said, the local Oria people, political parties and media stand united with the partion victims, but the ouster axe is likely to fall soon on more than 1,500 socalled illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Kendrapara district only.
The district administration claimed to have identified them in 2003 and sent a report to the government seeking permission for their deportation, said Kendrapara superintendent of police Dayal Gangwar in 12 th January , 2005, adding that most of the 1,551 illegal settlers are concentrated in Mahakalpada block of the district. We will issue eviction notices to all of them . We will forcibly deport them if they don`t leave on their own, Gangwar said. But Gangwar and the administration had to retreat on the face of stiff resistance from all quarters in Orrissa.Notices will be served on the illegal migrants by the respective block development officers, tehsildars and the police, he added.
The eviction notice was actually a government of Orrissa, home department order, dated 18.12.2004 issued from Bhuvneshwar. A copy of the eviction notice read as follows: ``In exercise of power conferred by clause (c) of sub Clause(2) of Section -3 of the Foreigners Act- 1946 (Act No.31 of 1946) read with notification No. 413/56(1) FI Dt 19.4.1958 of the government of India Ministery of Home affairs, New Delhi, the state government do hereby direct that Deepak sarkar s/o Paritosh, a Bangladeshi national at present residing in the District of Kendrapara, should quit India within 30 (thirty) days from date of service of this order on him ., failing which steps will be taken to deport him from India.
address: village -kharinasi, Tahsil- Mahakalpara, Dist- Kendrapara.
Signed by Deputy secretary to Government.
The act is used for the eviction is the Foreigners Act- 1946. At the time of the enactment of the Act neither India was independent nor divided. All persons divided in three soverein nations India, Pakistan and Bangldesh were the citizens of undivided India. How does the government use The British law which was passed without the actual event of partion, population transfer and refugee influx , refugee and rehabilitation policy of India, not to mention the assuarances by national leaders and its spirit.
Utkal Bangiya Surakshya samiti spokesman Shukla rightly said, `` the government had not any idea of the odd situation. Now they want to stip of all documents possesed by the refugees before any fresh action.
The initial survey, conducted in 2001, had revealed that more than 3,500 Bangladeshi nationals had settled in several coastal and interior districts of Orissa. Kendrapara alone accounts for than 2,300 migrants. In 2002, 25 Bangladeshi nationals were repatriated from Navrangpur district.The state has divided Bangladeshi nationals living into three categories. Those who came to Orissa before March 25, 1971 will not be deported. The cases of those who came between March 25, 1971 and December 16, 1971 have been referred to the central government for a decision, Gangwar said that time.We have initiated the deportation of those who arrived after December 16, 1971, he added. The government has deported 103 infiltrators between 1973 and 1993.
Kendrapara district collector Hemant Sharma said the administration will have to forcibly evict the migrants if they fail to comply with the state order.
In December 2004, the Supreme Court had issued notices to the Centre on the unchecked flow of Bangladeshi immigrants into the country after a public interest litigation by the India Image Foundation alleged that over 3 lakh migrants were entering India every year.The petition listed West Bengal as a major recipient of such immigrants. It also said the Assamese faced the danger of being reduced to a minority in their home state as Bangladeshi immigrants would soon outnumber them.
While the immediate reason for the current round of deportation drive seems to be the xenophobia sweeping through coastal Kendrapara, state government officials plead helplessness, citing repeated directives from the Union home ministry to deport illegal immigrants. Orissa`s home secretary, Santosh Kumar, who is supervising the cleansing process, denies any immediate provocation. Although these deportations are unlikely to solve the problem of illegal settlement, it has ensured cheap political dividends for the chief minister, Naveen Patnaik. Apart from endearing himself to the local people, he has managed to corner Congress legislator from Rajnagar, Nalini Mohanti. Traditionally, the Bengali-speaking majority here have been supporters of Mohanti.But even as the state government claims to be deporting illegal settlers, the fact remains that all the 1,551 who have been served eviction notice, are Hindu.
Mrityunjay Mandal is a third generation youngman, born and brought up in Orrissa. He is the Panchayat Pradhan for consecutively three terms. Mandal said, `` All registered refugees settled in the coastal areas of Orrissa, particularly in Kendrapara, migrated to India in 1950, 1953, 1954 and 1957. They were in the Charbetia Refugee camp near Cuttuck before resettlement.
Mandal added, ` Apart from agririan settlement, Bengali refugees were settled by government as small traders inBhuvneshwar, Puri, Cuttack, Baripada, Balasore, sambalpur, Brahmpur, Dhenkanel Anugul. The Charbetia refugees got settlment in Malkan Giri under dandyakaranya Project. Some of them got rehabilitation in different districts of Undivided UP and MP. Some got rehbilitation in Bhushandipur in six colonies adjoining the famous Chilka lake.
Mandal`s house is situated opposite the cyclone centre in Ramnagar. An idol of durga was in making and children were playing there unaware of their fate. I saw anothor cyclone centre near chhapauli where a school was run by lady teachers in the ground floor.
Pushpa, an aunt of Mandal has also been served eviction notice while she belonged to an alotee regitered resettler family which was shifted in Ramnagar from charbetia camp on 5th May , 1957, as the dispersal certificate from Charbetia Relief camp shows.. They migrated in 1956. She was married to a resident of west Bengal, an Indian citizen. She has got every document to support her claim for citizenship.
Mandal is grateful to the local people and political parties and media in general. He said, `All media people supported our genuine cause. All political parties and local people helped us to resist. Thus we stay here even today. Nalinikanti Mahanti, an ex minister and MLA for 25 years led us from front, he added. He organised a deputation to Prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi , Home Minister in centre Shivraj Patil and Loksabha Speaker somnath Chatterjee.President of Utkal Pradesh congress committee Jaidev Jena, ex minister Srikant Jena and Malkangiri MLA Nimai sarkar met the netionalleaders. Chairman of Mahakalpara Panchayat Samiti Balram Pareeda led the local support.
I met Sanatan Debnath(90), Narayan Debnath(75), Sridam debnath(85), Rasmohan Debnath(80), Harendra Debnath(80),Lokmohan debnath(80),Nanibala Debnath w/o Krishnabandhu Debnath and others. Sanatan Debnath has lost his memory but walks himself, still bearing the injuries in his bleeding heart. I tried to talk to him in vain.His mother was seriously injured in Noakhali riots. All these persons belong to Sandeep island area of then Noakhali. Sandeep was later included in Chittagang after 1956. All these persons are eyewitnesses of Noakhali Riots in sandeep area. They recall Bapu`s visit in Noahkali but could not meet him as he did not visit Sndeep. ``In Sandeep riots my grandmother got a cut on her throat. She was absconding for several days but was found by fishermenand survived,’’ said the son of Sanatan Debnath, a teacher in the local highschool Dinesh Chandra Debnath. `` My parents fled from sandeep and took shelter in a safer place nearby Rahmatpur Village, in my maternal home which was under a different union area and protected by secular muslims. My mother was very beautiful.The riots broke in sandeep fair on Shiv Chaturdashi where a large number of females and children gathered. The rumours of riots in Kolkata and massacre of Muslims spred by seamen coming to the area agitated Muslims. They attacked the Hindus and chopped off many of the in the fair.”
Narhari debnath remembers everything with full details.`The riots was aftermath of direct action and following riots in kolkata, he said. Sailors returning from Kokata spred the rumour of Muslim Massacre and Noakhali was burnt’, He said. `It was a saturday. The miscreants attacked the Tiner badee of Dr Harinath and chopped him on the spot.In Kachhiapar he became the first victim. He was a resourceful and reputed man and his house was famous as godam Badee. It triggered the panic button as wanted. Then the secular Muslims reached the Sener Hat, the local Hat in sandeep and warned Hindus to flee to safer places. it worked.The Hat was immidiately deserted.Meanwhile the sky was lit up by large scale arson. The elder brother of Harinath Doctor escaped and he told the fleeing Hindus that petrol was used in the arson.Entire Sandeep area was burnt. Sandeep was victimised just for nothing.”`Lalmohan sen, a freedomfighter who particiapted in Chittagang revolt under the leadership of Master Surya sen, another reputed personality of sandeep was killed immidiately. His brother Bhushan was also assasinated. Bhushan was a piolot and he had to fly Kolkata next day. locals deserted sandeep and escaped to nearby Jungle. They reached Another union area Rahamatpur., ‘ he added.Now Sreedam Debnath told that the chairman of Rahmatpur Union area, Batam sardar was very powerful and secular, too. He challanged the rioters not to touch Hindus in his union area. He deployed his supporter Muslim youths to protect the Hindus.
Both the oldman said that Fazlul Haq visited sandeep before the riots.
Describing the atmosphere of Noakhali then, The old men said,` rioters were crying Zihad with the slogan- Alla Ho Akbar. The Batam Sardar supporters and Hindus answed with vande Mataram.Tension prevailed , but altogether Hindus were safe in Batam`s den. Hindus were not so fortunate in other areas. And Bapu had to go for rescue.Gandhi stayed for about four months in the riot stricken areas. He started moving around the villages and motivated the people towards his peaceful coexistence and non-violence philosophy. When Gandhiji came to Jayag on 29th January 1947 all sections of the local community extended him whole-hearted support.
At that time, Barrister Hemanta Kumar Ghosh of the village donated all his resources to Mahatma for the development and peace of the area and "Ambika Kaliganga Charitable Trust" was formed. The office of the Gandhi Peace Mission, formerly known as Gandhi Camp, was shifted to the present campus of Jayag. The Gandhi Camp started working for both peace and charitable functions and it continued till partition of India.
In Azimpur criminallawyer Presh Moktar was killed.
Shocked by Lalmohan and harinath`s death the people began singing a song remembering them since the very next days: RABIBARE DASHTAAR PARE AAMAARE GELI BACHHA CHHARIYAA
KAAL SHAMANE NILO RE KAARIAA
RAASTAYA CHHILO JATO BAAREE DEKHE KAANDE TATO NAAREE
KAATE KHANDO KHAND KARI MUKHE BALE HARI HARI
They were weeping while singing the old song with frail rythm and sound.I felt my heart wet wet, though it was not raining anywhere.
Till he lived, Kartik Manna, an unlettered Bengali fisherman in the Ramnagar village of Kendrapara`s Mahakalpada block, was never a cause for worry for the Orissa administration.
Now dead for the last ten years, Manna must leave for Bangladesh. Or so believe the mandarins in the Orissa police and state administration who have zeroed in on 1,551 people in Mahakalpada block for deportation. On January 16, a local police team knocked on the rickety doors of Manna?s hut and shoved a small piece of paper into his son Bhanu Manna?s grimy hands, asking him to ?quit India? within 30 days or face police arrest and subsequent handing over to the Border Security Force.Bhanu, 60, would have perhaps laughed off the notice as a cruel joke had it not been a deportation notice from the Kendrapara district administration. The police did not forget to give another notice for Bhanu`s dead wife, Surati.
What`s my fault? I am not a Bangaldeshi. I came from Midnapore district after the 1971 cyclone,? protests Bhanu. But in the sleepy fishing village of Ramnagar, Bhanu and his deceased family members are not the only ones who have been randomly selected for deportation. Over 600 toddlers, men and women in the area have been slapped such notices by the Kendrapara district administration since January 16, when the deportation move started.
Like several of his neighbours, Bhanu was not among the thousands of Hindu refugees who escaped Bangladesh during the liberation war and arrived in India before December 16, 1971. The people who came in after this date were branded illegal immigrants. There were others who crossed into India before December 16 but hung around other relief camps and trickled into the settlement camps only after the cut-off date. It is these people who have been targeted by the government from time to time.
Rani Haldar belongs to Goda village of Orissa’s Jagatasinghpur district, which was the worst hit by the killer super-cyclone in October 2000. She lost her husband, children and home. She is yet to recover from the trauma. She claims her forefathers have been staying in the village since 1943. They are not infiltrators. They belong to the area.
Kamini Khan (Roy) belongs to Raighar area of Nabarangpur district. His wife is a panchayat sarpanch. Although he came here as a refugee, he has now become a landlord and is reportedly the kingpin in clashes between local tribals and refugees of the area.
Aurobindo Dhali, Orissa’s then co-operation minister, hails from south Orissa’s tribal dominated Malkangiri district. He was in the centre of controversy consequent to his meeting with the West Bengal chief minister, who was seeking support for the cause of at least 400,000 Bengali settlers in Orissa, for the revival of their lost language. Dhali is reportedly a Bengali refugee, elected to the state assembly on a Bhartiya Janata Party ticket, and is allegedly fighting more for the cause of refugees than in the interest of the state.
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Rani Haldar, Kamini Khan (Roy) and Aurobindo Dhali have created a furore over Orissa in the last two years because of their links with the refugee problem in the state. While no official figure is available, it is estimated that more than 700,000 refugees are living in various parts of Orissa. A majority of them are Bengali refugees, the rest are from Tibet, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
The Bengali refugees have their own story to tell. After the formation of East Pakistan in 1948, thousands of Bengalis had left their homes to settle in India. After the formation of Bangladesh, in 1971, more Bengalis (both Hindu and Muslim) sought refuge in India. Some of them were rehabilitated in Dandakaranya forest range of South Orissa by the government of India in collaboration with the government of Orissa.
Apart from this, a large-scale influx of Bengali refugees, who have subsequently settled in coastal areas of the state, has raised many eyebrows. Besides engaging in marine and inland fishing and allied trades, they have illegally occupied coastal forestland and are responsible for the destruction of the coastal eco-system, complain some local residents of Jagatasinghpur district. The interception of illegal radio stations and the arrest of a few suspects in the Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district in May 2002 have brought to light the activities of infiltrators from Bangladesh and security breaches made in the vicinity of sensitive defence installations. It is suspected that ISI and other foreign intelligence networks have installed some transmission centres near Wheeler Island in the Bay of Bengal to get information regarding Chandipur missile testing range.
Orissa’s home department has identified for deportation 2,867 Bangladeshis in six districts – from Kendrapara, Malkangiri, Bhadrak, Nowrangpur, Jagatasinghpur and Sambalpur. 392 have been issued “Quit India” notices; 21 from Nowrangpur district were recently handed over to the border security forces in neighbouring West Bengal for deportation. The rest will be deported in a phased manner as the process of identification is still under way with several districts yet to submit their final lists. State home department sources said that in the past too, the state government has taken steps to deport illegal immigrants. About 102 Bangladeshi infiltrators were deported from 1973 to 1993. Meanwhile, the state director general of police, NC Padhi, recently said in Malkangiri that the list of the settlers has been submitted to the government and deportation will be undertaken only after a government decision.
Of late, a tug of war over immigrants between the ruling Biju Janta Dal (BJD) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has become sharper. BJP alleges that the identification for deportation is being made on communal lines, because Hindu refugees have not voted in favour of BJD and Congress. Dismissing this charge, a senior state government official said that all has been done as per a central government circular issued on 16 September 1997. The circular states: “Any Bangladeshi found to have settled in the state after 16 December 1971, will be deported after due inquiry and issue of “Quit India” notice as per Foreigner Act, 1946. While those who have entered the state between 25 March 1971 and 16 December 1971, will be referred to the government of India for a decision. The state government will not disturb any Bangladeshi, who had landed in India before 25 March 1971”.
Meanwhile, Dhali says that the state government has neglected the refugees’ lot. Refugees from Bangladesh who are now living in Malkangiri, Raighar and Umerkote areas should not be treated as infiltrators as they all came to India before December 1971. They have been here for the last 40 years and should be able to avail of all facilities and services, according to him. Dhali clarified further that following the announcement of the government of India through All India Radio, most Hindu refugees came here from East Pakistan after the partition and were rehabilitated by the union government in consultation with the state government in Malkangiri, Raighar, Umerkote, Kendrapara and Puri districts. In those days, the government had provided land, agriculture equipment and citizenship certificates in the names of the heads of their families. Now their families have expanded and they are facing a problem of citizenship, because teenagers were not issued with this certificate at that time. They have now been short-listed for deportations.
Interestingly, local politics has also taken an ugly shape -- those who were fighting against refugee ouster have now politically settled into various parties. As a result, the conflict owing to the refugee issue is gaining momentum, and both refugees and the tribal are victims of their ugly game. The “development” of refugees has concentrated on settled agriculture and their exposure to the market economy. The local tribal population’s shifting cultivation practices and lack of education has made them subservient to the refugee population, feels Dhirendra Tripathy, a Bhubaneswar-based social activist. The other issues, according to him, are large-scale deforestation of forest land and encroachment of tribal land. Local legislator Mamata Padhi charged that some Bengali refugee men are allegedly involved in false marriages with girls from local tribal and backward communities; later, these men desert the women they have married.
The deportation drive may be well-meaning, but its arbitrariness and utter cruelty have brought the process under a cloud of suspicion. Several of those on the deportation list have voter identity cards, PAN cards and BPL cards that prove their citizenship. Some of them even work in government offices. But the most absurd has been deportation notices to children, who should have been Indian citizens by birth. Sampad Sarkar, 35, who runs a small shop in Ramnagar has been served a notice while his wife, Jyotsna, and three-year-old son have been spared.
Similar despair has descended on other households. As men and women are erratically selected for deportation, families are disintegrating and hurtling towards penury. Gokul Bera, 34, along with his 74-year-old father, 58-year-old mother and 34-year-old wife, Arati have been asked to leave. And so their six children aged between two and 12, who were all born in Ramnagar. Gokul?s childhood friend, Krishnapada Mandal, says the notice is arbitrary: How did he become a Bangla national suddenly? Why should he go to a place which he has never seen, he asks.
It`s a question that resonates in almost all households of the village. The arbitrariness is all the more evident in the case of Arabinda Kayal, a Class-IV employee of the Paradip Port Trust. The entire Kayal household, including his son, daughter-in-law and daughter, have been marked out for deportation though their names figure in the voters? list and Kayal holds a PAN card as well.
International law
As part of the Nuremberg Principles, crimes against humanity are part of international law. Principle IV of the Nuremberg Principles states that
The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:... (c)Crimes against humanity:
Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.
Telford Taylor, who was Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials wrote "[at] the Nuremberg war crimes trials, the tribunals rebuffed several efforts by the prosecution to bring such 'domestic' atrocities within the scope of international law as 'crimes against humanity'".
Religious persecution is systematic mistreatment of an individual or group due to their religious affiliation.
The tendency of societies to alienate or repress different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history. Moreover, because a person's religion often determines to a significant extent his or her morality and personal identity, religious differences can be significant cultural factors. Particularly (but not exclusively) in cases where the person's religion fails to emphasize a love and tolerance for all humanity, he or she may fall into the trap of considering practitioners of another religion as amoral or inferior.[citation needed] At a societal level, this dehumanization of a particular religious group may readily turn into violence or other forms of persecution. Even those who consider religiosity in general to be declining (i.e. those believesecularization is progressing) would agree that religious persecution continues to be a serious issue worldwide. Global media coverage of increasing numbers of participants in religious fundamentalism and religiously related terrorism obviate the prevalence of such persecutions worldwide. Indeed, in many countries of the world today, religious persecution has resulted in so much violence that it is considered a human rights problem.
Several subsequent international treaties incorporate this principle, but some have dropped the restriction "in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime" that is in Nuremberg Principles the for example although only binding on the 60 states that have ratified it, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court) includes in Article 7 the definition for crimes against humanity, and clause 7.1 states "For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: ... (h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3,[4] or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
I am born Indian. I will die an Indian.
Looking back to my childhood, we never imagined to be discriminated or persecuted! Those were glorious days of sixties full of National enthusiasm of a new born republic. Only disturbing element was the disturbances in North East and Kashmir along with Assam anti Bengali Riots. I felt the heat of the ethnic tension as my father, Pulin Babu worked to rehbilitate the Victims in Assam. Later, Chhotokaka went there to help the Bengali Refugees in affairs of medical care. In 1964, Didima, the lady from the Orakandi Thakur Bari migrated from East Pakistan and landed at our home for a shelter in her only daughter , my Jethima`s family.
Barring those memories, we never understood the phenomenon of persecution anywhere in this world. Though I as a child used to visit extensively the refugee colonies, Bengali as well as Sikh and encountered the Partion victioms with experiences of the Holocaust. But I believed it was a bad dream. I hoped that the memories of another day may not haunt our generation. We grew on that line. In 1984, after Operation Blue Star, I really understood the meaning of Ethnic Hatred. Later, in eighties living and working as a professional journalist in Meerut I witnessed the horror of being amidst Holocaust with experiences like maliana and hashimpur Massacres. But I always believed that we partion victim refugees have crossed the Bleeding Rivers once for never again.
Reading `Exodus’ and `Mila 18’ by Leon Uris I came to feel the Jew Experiences. But I never expected to happen this with our lot.
It happened.
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Persecution is the active, systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group or individual. The most common forms are ethnic persecution, religious persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms.
Persecution of Hindus refers to the religious persecution inflicted upon Hindus. Hindus have been historically persecuted during Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent and during the Goa Inquisition. In modern times, Hindus in Kashmir, Pakistan and Bangladesh have also suffered persecution.
Rescued by Bapu, the resettled Noakhali victims face prosecution in Independent India, in the coastal areas of Orrissa.Though The birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, is celebrated with reverence all over the country. He is the man who played a significant role in achiveing independence for India from the British Empire with his simplicity and strong will power.We have forgot the life and ideology of Bapu, thus the son of Biju Patnaik, a national leader himself, the Orrissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik sees to have no symapathy with the partition victims. I visited the cosatal area situated in the coastal area of Orrissa nearby Paradip, a dreamproject of Biju and sawthe agony which was shared by the father of the nation at the time when Punjab and Bengal was bleeding and New delhi celebrated with glittering the new found power for the caste Hindu Ruling classes.
The prime minister Dr Manmohan singh inaugruated the centenarycelebration of Bapu`s styagrah in South Afrika forgetting the partition victims and their plight. Gujrat leaders enjoyed Munnabhai Lage raho and Gandhigiri has overtaken Indian Politics as well as the ideology of Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi.
Lage Raho Munnabhai, the Bollywood blockbuster has reinvented Mahatma Gandhi for an entirely new generation of Indians. Munnabhai shows the way on screen, but can Gandhigiri work in real life.CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, engaged the audience in a debate on Gandhi and Gandhigiri. A poll conducted some time ago found that 68 per cent said Gandhi’s ideals can work in real life India today, 19 per cent said they can’t work and 16 per cent were undecided.Gandhi was no emperor, not a military general, not a president nor a prime minister. He was neither pacifist nor a cult guru. Who was Gandhi ? If anything, Mohandas K. Gandhi was a constant experimenter. Spirituality, religion, self-reliance, health, education, clothing, drinks, medicine, child care, status of women, no field escaped his search for truth. His thoughts when appeared in the form of talk or article became official words of action with the masses of India. He was a man who did what he said and led an exemplary and a transparent life. Not many people can claim "My life is an open book". What the ruling classes do, it is quite evident if you care enough to understand the psyche of Noakhali victims residing in Kendrapara district of orrissa.
Gandhi's work in the Noakhali District of Bengal during 1946 and 1947 provides a good example of the Mahatma's delicate balance between despair and the faith of a saint. As he began his stay in Noakhali, he told a prayer meeting that "today I am going through the greatest test of my life. I am now to find if the road I follow is really the true road for the people of this country."40 The test of Noakhali brought Gandhi a combination of comfort and despair, for even as he realized the failure of the people to practice Ahimsa, he recognized the truth and power of non-violence.
It’s all very well for the Indian government to be hospitable and generous to refugees from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but the ground reality is different. Settled in Orissa, the preferential treatment meted out to them by the government has become the cause of much resentment and bitterness among the locals. Partition victim all refugees from Punjab have not only rehabiliated , but they got Indian citizenship one and all. Most of the Bengali refugees, particularli who settled outside Bengal, are dalits, the lowest communities of Hindus in Bengal society. Bengal caste Hindu leadership had not been interested ever for their rehabiltiation or citizenship. Contrarily, the locals in different states have been much more sympathetic and helpful. As it is proved once again in Orrissa.The partition victim dalit refugees settled in Orrissa are being targetted and implicated most unlawfully and arbitrarily. Their sole offence is that they do spek in their mother tongue and that is Bengali. Majority of them possessed Voter`s Identity Card, Ration Card, Pand Card, Land reciept and most importantly Migration dispersal slipissued by Refugee Rehabilitation Directorate, Government of west Bengal dating back in 1956-57. These peole have availed benefits under various states and centre sponsored schemes erlier on the basis of refugee policy for partition victims in compliance with assurances given by the nationalleaders like Bapu, Nehru, Patel and Dr Rajendra Prasad. They are bonifide citizens in accordance with the citizenship Act of India, 1955, of a sovereign country. Most of them had to flee from Erswhile East Pakistan due to independence of two dominions called India and Pakistan, created by dividing Bengal and Punjab on the basis of two nation theory. The influx continued as population transfer on religious lines failed and minorities chose to stay on their motherland across the border., but political and religious prosecution continued.These Bengali refugees settled in the coastal areas of Orrissa are in possession of refugee resettlement documents issued by then labour ministery , Government of India. Hence, all dates of their migration and resettlement are clearly indiacated that they settled much before the cutt off date 16 December, 1971 fixed by government of India, erlier in 1956 to 1958. Most importantly the Oria speaking population, political parties and media stand united with them and support their claim for citizenship.
The road to Ramnagar begins from the link bridge on Kendrapara-Paradeep national highway.The road itself is the symbol of the backwardness of Mahakalpara Block which comprises of old Oria, Santhal and refugee colonies.I had to travel the route on a scooter, driven by a social activist, Ravindra Nath Sarkar. Kendrapara had experienced heavy floods some days ago. The national highway was damaged and it is still under repairing. Paddy fields were affected badly. It was raining interminnently for some days.There was no shelter in between.You have to take extra sets of clothes lest getting wet, you may not change. The route was quite dangerous for driving and I had to be careful to save my hanging leg which tended to get hurt anywhere.
Mind you, This entire population of Oria, Bengali and santhals have to face a common threat very soon as Mahakalpara is proposed to consist of Special Economic Zone to get oil for an American Multi National. Iron Ore Mines refugees are not settled as yet and further desettlement is imminent.Provided all refugees, the partition victims and the victims of industrialisation unite, what may come. Rmangar is a very old settlement which have Two Cyclone Shelters built after the super cyclone, 2004 among other things. It has got Bnak, Post Office, Highschool and local market ,too. The people are independent economically as they practice fishing on large scale. The river flowing side by side Rmanagra connects it to Bay of bengal. Even the Ramnagar people get Hilsa here. Paradeep is only six KM away in air distance.
I was amazed to discover all sixty familes settled and rehabiliated in adjoing BB colony are from Noakhali, the riot victims of 1946 and onwards. No less a personality, Bapu rushed to Noakhali to stop the riots.Saved by Bapu, the partition victims of Noakhali are once again prosecuted in Orrissa. Wonderful. I met some of the eyewitnesses of the Noakhali riots and have details of the nightmare. All the sixty families belong to Debnath community which is recognised in Orrissa as Debnath. Most of the Refugees settled in Ramnagar, Kharinasi, Baulakani, Batghara, Jamboo and other gram panchayats ogf Mahakal Para Block belong to Orrissa recognised scheduled caste Namoshudra. Others belong to another dalit community as per as namoshudra, the Pod Or apundras.Apart from Noakhali, they root in Jassore, Khulna, Barisal, Faridpur, all well known for the main base of Dalit Movement in undivided India.
Bengal had one of the worst records of communal riots before the Partition of the country. It was only in Bengal that the MuslimLeague succeeded in forming ``relatively'' stable ministries in
the two decades before the British quit in 1947. The refugee infux continued as the minority prosecution in Bangladesh never stopped. Continuous influx of refugees made the life of settled and rehabiliated refugees out of Bengal very miserable as they have not got citizenship as yet and the administration knows no way to distinguish an Indian citizen refugee and a bangladeshi National.In Ramnagar itself a lady migrated in 1957 have been served eviction notice.
None of the South Asian countries are party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees which currently is ratified by 134 nations. This may reflect the unwillingness of South Asian governments to submit to international scrutiny. Though India is not a party to the Refugee Convention, the general principle prohibiting forced repatriation called non- refoulement has risen to the level of customary law, such that they bind even non-signatories.
Since the matter (entry and regulation of aliens) falls under the Union List(3), the Central Government is empowered to deal with refugees. Traditionally, the Union Cabinet has made reactive decisions with each particular refugee influx, often taking action only when the particular refugee influx went beyond the control of the Border Security Force, and the matter became political. India thus lacks a cohesive national policy for handling refugee inflows. The lack of a national Indian policy limits the ability of the State governments and Border Security Force to deal with refugees instantly, resulting in mass rejections at the frontier while policy directions are awaited or non-recognition of refugees sneaking into Indian territory.
“Refugees should not be dealt with like outsiders; they should be treated like human beings,” said Mohammad Amin, chief of Adhikar, a state level NGO. Wherever they go, they adopt the norms of the local society, its culture and lifestyle. But Utkal Bangeeya Surakshya Samiti spokesman Vijoy Shukla told me at Ramnagar under Mahakalpara Block of Kendrapara district on 24th September, 2006, that all those persons served eviction notice and noted as bangladeshi nationals, have been omitted from the voters list for the coming Pnchayat elections. Besides many others have found their names deleted. He alleged that the Bengali refugges are being deprived of human rights as birth certificate, caste certificates, ration card, bpl card, domicile card are being denied. Shukla told that the samiti is planning to launch a fresh agitation.
A former sarpanch of Ramnagar, Bijoy Shukla, who witnessed the scene, found it really cruel and inhuman. With an uncertain future in store for the students on the deportation list, attendance at the school has also thinned.
It is not verylate, last year only, the bengali settlers in Orrissa from fifties began to get the notice to evict India within seven days.Mr Shukla said, the local Oria people, political parties and media stand united with the partion victims, but the ouster axe is likely to fall soon on more than 1,500 socalled illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Kendrapara district only.
The district administration claimed to have identified them in 2003 and sent a report to the government seeking permission for their deportation, said Kendrapara superintendent of police Dayal Gangwar in 12 th January , 2005, adding that most of the 1,551 illegal settlers are concentrated in Mahakalpada block of the district. We will issue eviction notices to all of them . We will forcibly deport them if they don`t leave on their own, Gangwar said. But Gangwar and the administration had to retreat on the face of stiff resistance from all quarters in Orrissa.Notices will be served on the illegal migrants by the respective block development officers, tehsildars and the police, he added.
The eviction notice was actually a government of Orrissa, home department order, dated 18.12.2004 issued from Bhuvneshwar. A copy of the eviction notice read as follows: ``In exercise of power conferred by clause (c) of sub Clause(2) of Section -3 of the Foreigners Act- 1946 (Act No.31 of 1946) read with notification No. 413/56(1) FI Dt 19.4.1958 of the government of India Ministery of Home affairs, New Delhi, the state government do hereby direct that Deepak sarkar s/o Paritosh, a Bangladeshi national at present residing in the District of Kendrapara, should quit India within 30 (thirty) days from date of service of this order on him ., failing which steps will be taken to deport him from India.
address: village -kharinasi, Tahsil- Mahakalpara, Dist- Kendrapara.
Signed by Deputy secretary to Government.
The act is used for the eviction is the Foreigners Act- 1946. At the time of the enactment of the Act neither India was independent nor divided. All persons divided in three soverein nations India, Pakistan and Bangldesh were the citizens of undivided India. How does the government use The British law which was passed without the actual event of partion, population transfer and refugee influx , refugee and rehabilitation policy of India, not to mention the assuarances by national leaders and its spirit.
Utkal Bangiya Surakshya samiti spokesman Shukla rightly said, `` the government had not any idea of the odd situation. Now they want to stip of all documents possesed by the refugees before any fresh action.
The initial survey, conducted in 2001, had revealed that more than 3,500 Bangladeshi nationals had settled in several coastal and interior districts of Orissa. Kendrapara alone accounts for than 2,300 migrants. In 2002, 25 Bangladeshi nationals were repatriated from Navrangpur district.The state has divided Bangladeshi nationals living into three categories. Those who came to Orissa before March 25, 1971 will not be deported. The cases of those who came between March 25, 1971 and December 16, 1971 have been referred to the central government for a decision, Gangwar said that time.We have initiated the deportation of those who arrived after December 16, 1971, he added. The government has deported 103 infiltrators between 1973 and 1993.
Kendrapara district collector Hemant Sharma said the administration will have to forcibly evict the migrants if they fail to comply with the state order.
In December 2004, the Supreme Court had issued notices to the Centre on the unchecked flow of Bangladeshi immigrants into the country after a public interest litigation by the India Image Foundation alleged that over 3 lakh migrants were entering India every year.The petition listed West Bengal as a major recipient of such immigrants. It also said the Assamese faced the danger of being reduced to a minority in their home state as Bangladeshi immigrants would soon outnumber them.
While the immediate reason for the current round of deportation drive seems to be the xenophobia sweeping through coastal Kendrapara, state government officials plead helplessness, citing repeated directives from the Union home ministry to deport illegal immigrants. Orissa`s home secretary, Santosh Kumar, who is supervising the cleansing process, denies any immediate provocation. Although these deportations are unlikely to solve the problem of illegal settlement, it has ensured cheap political dividends for the chief minister, Naveen Patnaik. Apart from endearing himself to the local people, he has managed to corner Congress legislator from Rajnagar, Nalini Mohanti. Traditionally, the Bengali-speaking majority here have been supporters of Mohanti.But even as the state government claims to be deporting illegal settlers, the fact remains that all the 1,551 who have been served eviction notice, are Hindu.
Mrityunjay Mandal is a third generation youngman, born and brought up in Orrissa. He is the Panchayat Pradhan for consecutively three terms. Mandal said, `` All registered refugees settled in the coastal areas of Orrissa, particularly in Kendrapara, migrated to India in 1950, 1953, 1954 and 1957. They were in the Charbetia Refugee camp near Cuttuck before resettlement.
Mandal added, ` Apart from agririan settlement, Bengali refugees were settled by government as small traders inBhuvneshwar, Puri, Cuttack, Baripada, Balasore, sambalpur, Brahmpur, Dhenkanel Anugul. The Charbetia refugees got settlment in Malkan Giri under dandyakaranya Project. Some of them got rehabilitation in different districts of Undivided UP and MP. Some got rehbilitation in Bhushandipur in six colonies adjoining the famous Chilka lake.
Mandal`s house is situated opposite the cyclone centre in Ramnagar. An idol of durga was in making and children were playing there unaware of their fate. I saw anothor cyclone centre near chhapauli where a school was run by lady teachers in the ground floor.
Pushpa, an aunt of Mandal has also been served eviction notice while she belonged to an alotee regitered resettler family which was shifted in Ramnagar from charbetia camp on 5th May , 1957, as the dispersal certificate from Charbetia Relief camp shows.. They migrated in 1956. She was married to a resident of west Bengal, an Indian citizen. She has got every document to support her claim for citizenship.
Mandal is grateful to the local people and political parties and media in general. He said, `All media people supported our genuine cause. All political parties and local people helped us to resist. Thus we stay here even today. Nalinikanti Mahanti, an ex minister and MLA for 25 years led us from front, he added. He organised a deputation to Prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi , Home Minister in centre Shivraj Patil and Loksabha Speaker somnath Chatterjee.President of Utkal Pradesh congress committee Jaidev Jena, ex minister Srikant Jena and Malkangiri MLA Nimai sarkar met the netionalleaders. Chairman of Mahakalpara Panchayat Samiti Balram Pareeda led the local support.
I met Sanatan Debnath(90), Narayan Debnath(75), Sridam debnath(85), Rasmohan Debnath(80), Harendra Debnath(80),Lokmohan debnath(80),Nanibala Debnath w/o Krishnabandhu Debnath and others. Sanatan Debnath has lost his memory but walks himself, still bearing the injuries in his bleeding heart. I tried to talk to him in vain.His mother was seriously injured in Noakhali riots. All these persons belong to Sandeep island area of then Noakhali. Sandeep was later included in Chittagang after 1956. All these persons are eyewitnesses of Noakhali Riots in sandeep area. They recall Bapu`s visit in Noahkali but could not meet him as he did not visit Sndeep. ``In Sandeep riots my grandmother got a cut on her throat. She was absconding for several days but was found by fishermenand survived,’’ said the son of Sanatan Debnath, a teacher in the local highschool Dinesh Chandra Debnath. `` My parents fled from sandeep and took shelter in a safer place nearby Rahmatpur Village, in my maternal home which was under a different union area and protected by secular muslims. My mother was very beautiful.The riots broke in sandeep fair on Shiv Chaturdashi where a large number of females and children gathered. The rumours of riots in Kolkata and massacre of Muslims spred by seamen coming to the area agitated Muslims. They attacked the Hindus and chopped off many of the in the fair.”
Narhari debnath remembers everything with full details.`The riots was aftermath of direct action and following riots in kolkata, he said. Sailors returning from Kokata spred the rumour of Muslim Massacre and Noakhali was burnt’, He said. `It was a saturday. The miscreants attacked the Tiner badee of Dr Harinath and chopped him on the spot.In Kachhiapar he became the first victim. He was a resourceful and reputed man and his house was famous as godam Badee. It triggered the panic button as wanted. Then the secular Muslims reached the Sener Hat, the local Hat in sandeep and warned Hindus to flee to safer places. it worked.The Hat was immidiately deserted.Meanwhile the sky was lit up by large scale arson. The elder brother of Harinath Doctor escaped and he told the fleeing Hindus that petrol was used in the arson.Entire Sandeep area was burnt. Sandeep was victimised just for nothing.”`Lalmohan sen, a freedomfighter who particiapted in Chittagang revolt under the leadership of Master Surya sen, another reputed personality of sandeep was killed immidiately. His brother Bhushan was also assasinated. Bhushan was a piolot and he had to fly Kolkata next day. locals deserted sandeep and escaped to nearby Jungle. They reached Another union area Rahamatpur., ‘ he added.Now Sreedam Debnath told that the chairman of Rahmatpur Union area, Batam sardar was very powerful and secular, too. He challanged the rioters not to touch Hindus in his union area. He deployed his supporter Muslim youths to protect the Hindus.
Both the oldman said that Fazlul Haq visited sandeep before the riots.
Describing the atmosphere of Noakhali then, The old men said,` rioters were crying Zihad with the slogan- Alla Ho Akbar. The Batam Sardar supporters and Hindus answed with vande Mataram.Tension prevailed , but altogether Hindus were safe in Batam`s den. Hindus were not so fortunate in other areas. And Bapu had to go for rescue.Gandhi stayed for about four months in the riot stricken areas. He started moving around the villages and motivated the people towards his peaceful coexistence and non-violence philosophy. When Gandhiji came to Jayag on 29th January 1947 all sections of the local community extended him whole-hearted support.
At that time, Barrister Hemanta Kumar Ghosh of the village donated all his resources to Mahatma for the development and peace of the area and "Ambika Kaliganga Charitable Trust" was formed. The office of the Gandhi Peace Mission, formerly known as Gandhi Camp, was shifted to the present campus of Jayag. The Gandhi Camp started working for both peace and charitable functions and it continued till partition of India.
In Azimpur criminallawyer Presh Moktar was killed.
Shocked by Lalmohan and harinath`s death the people began singing a song remembering them since the very next days: RABIBARE DASHTAAR PARE AAMAARE GELI BACHHA CHHARIYAA
KAAL SHAMANE NILO RE KAARIAA
RAASTAYA CHHILO JATO BAAREE DEKHE KAANDE TATO NAAREE
KAATE KHANDO KHAND KARI MUKHE BALE HARI HARI
They were weeping while singing the old song with frail rythm and sound.I felt my heart wet wet, though it was not raining anywhere.
Till he lived, Kartik Manna, an unlettered Bengali fisherman in the Ramnagar village of Kendrapara`s Mahakalpada block, was never a cause for worry for the Orissa administration.
Now dead for the last ten years, Manna must leave for Bangladesh. Or so believe the mandarins in the Orissa police and state administration who have zeroed in on 1,551 people in Mahakalpada block for deportation. On January 16, a local police team knocked on the rickety doors of Manna?s hut and shoved a small piece of paper into his son Bhanu Manna?s grimy hands, asking him to ?quit India? within 30 days or face police arrest and subsequent handing over to the Border Security Force.Bhanu, 60, would have perhaps laughed off the notice as a cruel joke had it not been a deportation notice from the Kendrapara district administration. The police did not forget to give another notice for Bhanu`s dead wife, Surati.
What`s my fault? I am not a Bangaldeshi. I came from Midnapore district after the 1971 cyclone,? protests Bhanu. But in the sleepy fishing village of Ramnagar, Bhanu and his deceased family members are not the only ones who have been randomly selected for deportation. Over 600 toddlers, men and women in the area have been slapped such notices by the Kendrapara district administration since January 16, when the deportation move started.
Like several of his neighbours, Bhanu was not among the thousands of Hindu refugees who escaped Bangladesh during the liberation war and arrived in India before December 16, 1971. The people who came in after this date were branded illegal immigrants. There were others who crossed into India before December 16 but hung around other relief camps and trickled into the settlement camps only after the cut-off date. It is these people who have been targeted by the government from time to time.
Rani Haldar belongs to Goda village of Orissa’s Jagatasinghpur district, which was the worst hit by the killer super-cyclone in October 2000. She lost her husband, children and home. She is yet to recover from the trauma. She claims her forefathers have been staying in the village since 1943. They are not infiltrators. They belong to the area.
Kamini Khan (Roy) belongs to Raighar area of Nabarangpur district. His wife is a panchayat sarpanch. Although he came here as a refugee, he has now become a landlord and is reportedly the kingpin in clashes between local tribals and refugees of the area.
Aurobindo Dhali, Orissa’s then co-operation minister, hails from south Orissa’s tribal dominated Malkangiri district. He was in the centre of controversy consequent to his meeting with the West Bengal chief minister, who was seeking support for the cause of at least 400,000 Bengali settlers in Orissa, for the revival of their lost language. Dhali is reportedly a Bengali refugee, elected to the state assembly on a Bhartiya Janata Party ticket, and is allegedly fighting more for the cause of refugees than in the interest of the state.
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Rani Haldar, Kamini Khan (Roy) and Aurobindo Dhali have created a furore over Orissa in the last two years because of their links with the refugee problem in the state. While no official figure is available, it is estimated that more than 700,000 refugees are living in various parts of Orissa. A majority of them are Bengali refugees, the rest are from Tibet, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
The Bengali refugees have their own story to tell. After the formation of East Pakistan in 1948, thousands of Bengalis had left their homes to settle in India. After the formation of Bangladesh, in 1971, more Bengalis (both Hindu and Muslim) sought refuge in India. Some of them were rehabilitated in Dandakaranya forest range of South Orissa by the government of India in collaboration with the government of Orissa.
Apart from this, a large-scale influx of Bengali refugees, who have subsequently settled in coastal areas of the state, has raised many eyebrows. Besides engaging in marine and inland fishing and allied trades, they have illegally occupied coastal forestland and are responsible for the destruction of the coastal eco-system, complain some local residents of Jagatasinghpur district. The interception of illegal radio stations and the arrest of a few suspects in the Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district in May 2002 have brought to light the activities of infiltrators from Bangladesh and security breaches made in the vicinity of sensitive defence installations. It is suspected that ISI and other foreign intelligence networks have installed some transmission centres near Wheeler Island in the Bay of Bengal to get information regarding Chandipur missile testing range.
Orissa’s home department has identified for deportation 2,867 Bangladeshis in six districts – from Kendrapara, Malkangiri, Bhadrak, Nowrangpur, Jagatasinghpur and Sambalpur. 392 have been issued “Quit India” notices; 21 from Nowrangpur district were recently handed over to the border security forces in neighbouring West Bengal for deportation. The rest will be deported in a phased manner as the process of identification is still under way with several districts yet to submit their final lists. State home department sources said that in the past too, the state government has taken steps to deport illegal immigrants. About 102 Bangladeshi infiltrators were deported from 1973 to 1993. Meanwhile, the state director general of police, NC Padhi, recently said in Malkangiri that the list of the settlers has been submitted to the government and deportation will be undertaken only after a government decision.
Of late, a tug of war over immigrants between the ruling Biju Janta Dal (BJD) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has become sharper. BJP alleges that the identification for deportation is being made on communal lines, because Hindu refugees have not voted in favour of BJD and Congress. Dismissing this charge, a senior state government official said that all has been done as per a central government circular issued on 16 September 1997. The circular states: “Any Bangladeshi found to have settled in the state after 16 December 1971, will be deported after due inquiry and issue of “Quit India” notice as per Foreigner Act, 1946. While those who have entered the state between 25 March 1971 and 16 December 1971, will be referred to the government of India for a decision. The state government will not disturb any Bangladeshi, who had landed in India before 25 March 1971”.
Meanwhile, Dhali says that the state government has neglected the refugees’ lot. Refugees from Bangladesh who are now living in Malkangiri, Raighar and Umerkote areas should not be treated as infiltrators as they all came to India before December 1971. They have been here for the last 40 years and should be able to avail of all facilities and services, according to him. Dhali clarified further that following the announcement of the government of India through All India Radio, most Hindu refugees came here from East Pakistan after the partition and were rehabilitated by the union government in consultation with the state government in Malkangiri, Raighar, Umerkote, Kendrapara and Puri districts. In those days, the government had provided land, agriculture equipment and citizenship certificates in the names of the heads of their families. Now their families have expanded and they are facing a problem of citizenship, because teenagers were not issued with this certificate at that time. They have now been short-listed for deportations.
Interestingly, local politics has also taken an ugly shape -- those who were fighting against refugee ouster have now politically settled into various parties. As a result, the conflict owing to the refugee issue is gaining momentum, and both refugees and the tribal are victims of their ugly game. The “development” of refugees has concentrated on settled agriculture and their exposure to the market economy. The local tribal population’s shifting cultivation practices and lack of education has made them subservient to the refugee population, feels Dhirendra Tripathy, a Bhubaneswar-based social activist. The other issues, according to him, are large-scale deforestation of forest land and encroachment of tribal land. Local legislator Mamata Padhi charged that some Bengali refugee men are allegedly involved in false marriages with girls from local tribal and backward communities; later, these men desert the women they have married.
The deportation drive may be well-meaning, but its arbitrariness and utter cruelty have brought the process under a cloud of suspicion. Several of those on the deportation list have voter identity cards, PAN cards and BPL cards that prove their citizenship. Some of them even work in government offices. But the most absurd has been deportation notices to children, who should have been Indian citizens by birth. Sampad Sarkar, 35, who runs a small shop in Ramnagar has been served a notice while his wife, Jyotsna, and three-year-old son have been spared.
Similar despair has descended on other households. As men and women are erratically selected for deportation, families are disintegrating and hurtling towards penury. Gokul Bera, 34, along with his 74-year-old father, 58-year-old mother and 34-year-old wife, Arati have been asked to leave. And so their six children aged between two and 12, who were all born in Ramnagar. Gokul?s childhood friend, Krishnapada Mandal, says the notice is arbitrary: How did he become a Bangla national suddenly? Why should he go to a place which he has never seen, he asks.
It`s a question that resonates in almost all households of the village. The arbitrariness is all the more evident in the case of Arabinda Kayal, a Class-IV employee of the Paradip Port Trust. The entire Kayal household, including his son, daughter-in-law and daughter, have been marked out for deportation though their names figure in the voters? list and Kayal holds a PAN card as well.
International law
As part of the Nuremberg Principles, crimes against humanity are part of international law. Principle IV of the Nuremberg Principles states that
The crimes hereinafter set out are punishable as crimes under international law:... (c)Crimes against humanity:
Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts done against any civilian population, or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds, when such acts are done or such persecutions are carried on in execution of or in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime.
Telford Taylor, who was Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials wrote "[at] the Nuremberg war crimes trials, the tribunals rebuffed several efforts by the prosecution to bring such 'domestic' atrocities within the scope of international law as 'crimes against humanity'".
Religious persecution is systematic mistreatment of an individual or group due to their religious affiliation.
The tendency of societies to alienate or repress different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history. Moreover, because a person's religion often determines to a significant extent his or her morality and personal identity, religious differences can be significant cultural factors. Particularly (but not exclusively) in cases where the person's religion fails to emphasize a love and tolerance for all humanity, he or she may fall into the trap of considering practitioners of another religion as amoral or inferior.[citation needed] At a societal level, this dehumanization of a particular religious group may readily turn into violence or other forms of persecution. Even those who consider religiosity in general to be declining (i.e. those believesecularization is progressing) would agree that religious persecution continues to be a serious issue worldwide. Global media coverage of increasing numbers of participants in religious fundamentalism and religiously related terrorism obviate the prevalence of such persecutions worldwide. Indeed, in many countries of the world today, religious persecution has resulted in so much violence that it is considered a human rights problem.
Several subsequent international treaties incorporate this principle, but some have dropped the restriction "in connection with any crime against peace or any war crime" that is in Nuremberg Principles the for example although only binding on the 60 states that have ratified it, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court) includes in Article 7 the definition for crimes against humanity, and clause 7.1 states "For the purpose of this Statute, "crime against humanity" means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: ... (h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3,[4] or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;
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