Aidari

My story captures the lives of the indigenous Santal Community living for decades on 1842.30 acres of land at Shahebganj Bagda Farm in Gabindaganj Upazila of Gaibandha, Bangladesh. Through these photos, I do not only portray their losses and agonies but also seek to give an outline of their struggles and fights against repressive forces.

‘Aidari’ which means ownership of land. The Santal Rebellion was one of the most horrific revolts that took place in India during the Company rule. The peace-loving people, whom we call the Santals, became rebellious against the then ruling class. One of the main reasons was land ownership.

Before the emergence of Bangladesh, the then East Pakistan government established Rangpur Sugar Mill at Mahimaganj in 1956. Therefore, according to the provisions of The East Bengal (Emergency) Requisition of Property Act 1948 (NO. VIII of 1948), the government requisitioned 1842.30 acres of land belonging to indigenous peoples and Bengalis in Shahebganj Bagda Farm area to cultivate sugarcane and supply the produce to the sugar mill.

To that end, the then government reached an agreement with the indigenous peoples in 1962 according to the provisions of the Requisition of Property Act 1948. The agreement stipulates that if the land is not requisitioned for work (sugarcane cultivation), it must be returned to the previous owners with compensation. But after closing the operation of the sugar mill, the authorities did not adhere to the terms of the agreement. On the contrary, on 6 November 2016, the mill authorities attacked members of the Santal community to evict them from the land. Locally influential terrorists set fire to their houses and police opened fire at the protesting Santal men. Three of them with multiple bullet wounds died on the spot and many more were seriously injured in the shooting. Now the government wants to build an EPZ in this disputed land and the indigenous people living there are again facing a threat of eviction from their own land.

This story focuses as much on the victims of those attacks as on how the Santal community living there are fighting back to protect the land of their ancestors. 

Ongoing Project