The involvement of minors in cases of land-grabbing highlights the dismal state of the judiciary in Bangladesh and emphasises the need for land reform
Bangladesh is one of the most crowded countries in the world. Land disputes account for 80% of all cases filed in the country; around 3.2 million cases are reportedly pending in court. Amazingly, most of the accused are children.
The peculiar case of charges levied against three-and-a-half-year-old Iman Ali, and the subsequent court action against him, has embroiled the judiciary in a fresh controversy. Ali is being tried for murder. According to the law, only children above seven can be tried in regular courts. Cases against children under the age of 16 are heard in special juvenile courts.
The dispute concerns a 550-square-foot piece of land in Dhaka’s Sayedabad area. Anwar Ali, the accused boy’s father, and his family have been implicated in nine cases (including one of murder) by Ali Hossain, a police informer.
According to the media and other organisations security officials helped Ali Hossain register a false complaint against Anwar in order to grab the land. “We got acquitted in five of the nine cases. Is that not proof enough that the accusations were trumped up?” asks Anwar.
“Millions of innocent children are harassed in land dispute cases because of loopholes in our laws, most of which were made hundreds of years ago,” says Ragib Hasan Masud, executive director of the human rights coalition, Odhikar. A study by general secretary Abul Barakat of the Bangladesh Economic Association reveals that encroachers take advantage of the poor legal system and corruption by filing lawsuits that help them keep the land.
The high court has asked the concerned authorities for an explanation as to why the magistrate’s court granted the child bail for US$ 85 (this means he will have to return to court for a hearing) instead of dismissing the charges. It has also demanded reforms in the land laws.
The Bangladesh government has set up a committee, under cabinet secretary Saadat Hossain, to investigate the land-grabbing issue. The committee has proposed increasing the maximum penalty for those found guilty of the worst cases of land-grabbing from two years in prison to 14 years.
Source: www.oneworld.net, April 23, 2004
