Right to inherit property is a basic right and neither State nor an individual can snatch away this right. The promulgation of the Vested Property Act after 1971 was completely inconsistent with the spirit of the Liberation War, so as with the Proclamation of Independence. Moreover Article 02 (i) and (ii) of the Constitution of Bangladesh states that there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the grounds for religion, caste, sex etc. However, the Vested Property Act has already created the discriminatory framework against the minority Hindu community, which is also anti-constitutional.
In the military regime, this tool was used extremely against the minority community. In November 1976, the Military Government repealed previous Act No XLVI of 1974 by Ordinance XCII of 1976. They also amended the Act XLV of 1974 by the Ordinance XCIII of 1976 with a retrospective effect. All the Acts prior to Ordinance XCIII of 1976 empowered the Government to become the custodian and to preserve the enemy properties in contemplation of arrangement to be made in the conclusion of peace with India. But the Ordinance XCIII of 1976 made the Government owner of vested properties instead of protector of the same! Thus, the government encroached on the right of the ownership, which is a gross violation of the existing laws pertaining to the right to private ownership. It is very important to note that on 23 May 1977, the Government issued some instructions by Circular No 1 A-1/77/156 RL directing the concerned officials that enemy properties in relation to lands and buildings vested in the Government shall be administrated, controlled, managed and disposed of in the manner as laid down therein.
Moreover, tahshilders and other staff of state acquisition offices were even incentivised to find out new vested properties in the following words 'on detection or furnishing any information leading to detection of any concealed vested property within their respective jurisdiction, may be suitably rewarded'. In effect unscrupulous tahshilders even identified properties belonging to Hindus as vested properties although the owners were physically based in Bangladesh! The same approach could be seen under the Defence of Pakistan Ordinance no. XXIII of 1965 where the Government appointed a large number of Tahshilders on commission basis to complete the task of enlistment within the shortest possible time.
Nevertheless to say, these steps undertaken by the military dictators (1975-1990) had several dimensions, all related to the strengthening of the political base of the vested groups. First, the military rulers wanted to accelerate the process of Pakistanisation and to eliminate the spirit of Bangalee nationalism build upon secularism that had been developed and enrooted through the war of independence. Second, the military dictators wanted to create a panic and insecurity feeling among the 9.7 million Hindus as they were considered as the bridge to the Bangalee nationalism, culture and spirit. Third, the military junta wanted to establish a strong foothold of the ruling government and the power mechanism with the local level power structure by providing them access to acquire vested properties in exchange of collaboration with the government. Fourth, military junta wanted to divert the attention of the economically rising strata of the society from the current socio-political development and being engaged in procuring the property of the emigrant Hindus. It is to mention that in the context of a densely populated country like Bangladesh, it is considered to be a great opportunity to get a chance for further expanding the scarcest resource, the real state. It is likely to be said that such examples of encroachment of private property by the Government have created bad precedent and might be used against any lawful citizen at any time.
To extend the view, we can see some common characteristics of the military rulers during 1975 - 1990. None of them had any political base, none of them was politically and ideologically committed to the nation and they used Hindus as a political trump card. India was always portrayed as a potential threat to Bangladeshi economy and culture and to the religious faith of the majority Muslims. The honest and inherently secular feeling of the majority Muslims was exploited through using "Indian Aggression Card" and by using the slogan "Islam is in Danger". To non-Muslims, especially the majority within the minority - the Hindus were treated synonymously with "Hindustani Citizen" (Citizen of India), as was the case throughout the Pakistan period. Thus, the Act was used as an effective instrument towards the forced migration and extermination of the Bangladeshi Hindus. Therefore the present Government has to take initiatives to return the illegally acquired properties to uphold justice and equality in the society.r
Upal Aditya Oikya is a student, School of Law, BRAC University
