On 19 August 2022 at around 8 am a group of 200 goons led by land grabbers Rashedul Islam and Ebadul Sardar carried out a heinous attack on the indigenous Munda people of Dhumghat Antikhali village under Shyamnagar Upazilla of Sathkhira District. The land grabbers intentionally perpetrated the attack in order to grab the land of the Munda people of Dhumghat Antikhali village.

It is reported that, the 32 indigenous Munda families have been living in the Dhumghat Antikhali village for many years. Recently, Rashedul Islam and Ebadul Sardar have been claiming the lands of 8 Munda families where Rakhal Munda, Abinash Munda, Nirapod Munda and Odhir Munda families have been living and cultivating. Not only that but also the land grabbers have been threatening the indigenous Munda families from many days in order to evict them from their lands.

Incident Day:

On the incident day, Rashedul Islam and Ebadul Sardar hired nearly 200 goons from different Unions and Upazilas of the District. The perpetrators surrounded the Munda village and locked the indigenous Munda people inside their houses forcefully. Meanwhile, when Bilasi Rani Munda, Rina Munda, Sulta Munda and Narendra Munda were working in the field Rashedul Islam ordered them to leave the field immediately. However, when Bilasi Rani Munda and Fanindra Munda protested Rashedul Islam, the perpetrators started attacking the victims with sharp weapons with the intention to kill them. At this stage, the victims injured severely. Nevertheless, the perpetrators also sexually assaulted by tearing apart their cloths and snatched away the gold chain and ear rings of Sulta Munda, Bilasi Rani Munda worth of 144,000 Taka. By seeing this, Narendra Nath Munda came forward to rescue the victims, but the perpetrators hit him with bamboo stick and tried to kill him. A total of 100kg rice seedbed worth of 100,000 Taka were also destroyed by the miscreants. Nobody came to help the victims after seeing the   goons. The culprits left the place only when the police arrived after calling at 999.

Later, the miscreants started cultivating on the land of indigenous Munda people by using power tiller. However, the indigenous Munda people anyhow got out from their houses and obstructed the land grabbers. The perpetrators also vandalized the houses of indigenous Munda families with local made weapons. At this point, 4 were injured seriously including 3 women out of 12 indigenous Munda persons. Afterwards, the 4 injured were admitted to Shyamnagar Upazilla Health Complex when the police rescued them.

The eyewitnesses are-(1) Nirapod Munda son of late Ramcharan Munda, (2) Sonatan Munda son of Narendra Nath Munda, (3) Bimla Dasi wife of Monosa Munda, (4) Nomita Munda wife of Narayon Munda, (5) Probash Munda son of late Babulal Munda, (6) Aroti Munda wife of Nirapod Munda from Dumghat Thana, Shyamnagar Upazilla of Sathkhira District.

The injured are-Sulta Munda (30), Bilasi Rani Munda (35), Rina Munda (36) and Narendra Munda (65).

Death of a victim:

Unfortunately, the injured Narendra Munda died on the day after the incident on 20 August 2022. A case has been lodged with Shyamnagar Police Station against 23 known and 160-170 unknown perpetrators on 19 August 2022. The police have arrested 4 perpetrators on 19 August 2022 and the following day respectively. However, the main culprits are still at large till the report.

Perpetrators:

As identified by the locals, the perpetrators are-(1) Rashedul Islam (45), son of late Gafur Sardar (2), Ebadul Sardar, son of late Gafur Sardar from Shrifolkati village, (3) Firoz (30) son of Munshur Ali from Bongshipur village, (4) Moukim Mahajan (40), son of Firoz Mahajan from Shrifolkati village, (5) Islam (50), (6) Robiul Islam (40) son of Siddique, (7) Firoz Gazi (35) son of Munshur Gazi from Bongshipur village, (8) Akkas Ali (48) son of Akbar Ali from Patrakhola village, (9) Soyeb Gazi (36) son of Kader Gazi, (10) Nur Hossain (35) son of Alam, (11) Adom Ali (35) son of Bhalu Ali from Bongshipur village, (12) Ashraf Gazi (48) son of Akbar Gazi, (13) Rshedul (40), son of Sunnot Gazi from Pathrakhola village, (14) Babu (28), (15) Israfil (27), (16) Alamghir (28), (17) Nur Mohammed (27), (18) Akbar (24), (19) Emdad (25), (20) Rashedul (29), (21) Firoz (30), (22) Shafiqul (30) son of Gafur Gazi from Shrifolkati village, (23) Kamrul (38) from Shrifolkati village of Shyamnagar Upazilla and other 160-170 unknown miscreants.

Current situation:

Local police stationed in the village for the protection of the villagers. However, indigenous Munda people still leaving in fear. The mastermind of this barbaric attack still out of bar. It is learnt that now they are giving pressure to the villagers for the settlement of the issue.

Different human rights and indigenous peoples’ organizations including SoDESH Sathkhira, HRDF Sathkhira, CSO and HRD Coalition Sathkhira, Bangladesh Mohilla Parishad, Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum (BIPF), SAMS, Jatiya Adibashi Parishad and Kapaeeng Foundation condemned and protested the barbaric attack and also demanded justice and arrest of the perpetrators as soon as possible through separate statements on 19 August 2022.