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Bangladesh approves Hindu property restoration act
BBC News - Bangladesh approves Hindu property restoration act
By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka
The Bangladeshi parliament has passed a landmark bill that will enable the return of property seized from the country's Hindu minority.
The land was taken under a controversial law enacted in the 1960s.
It was implemented by the East Pakistan administration before Bangladesh became independent in 1971.
The law, initially known as the Enemy Property Act, allowed the authorities to take over land and buildings of Hindus who migrated to India.
Under its terms, property belonging to millions of Hindus who fled to India was confiscated.
The law came into effect in 1965 when Pakistan and India fought a brief war.
The act was renamed as the Vested Properties Act after independence.
The Vested Properties Return (Amendment) Bill 2011 now enables Hindus to reclaim their property taken over by the government and individuals.
"There are some good provisions but it doesn't go far enough to address our demand that all the properties seized or taken over until recently should be returned to their rightful owners," Supreme Court lawyer Subrata Chowdhury told the BBC.
Exodus
Hindu community leaders say that even after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 the law was still used to discriminate against them.
Human rights groups and civil society activists have long urged successive governments to repeal the act.
The governing Awami League made an electoral promise in 2008 that confiscated properties would be given back to the original owners.
Experts say that while the changes to the law are welcome, it will be impossible to return all the land because some of it was confiscated more than 40 years ago.
Most of it appears to have been taken over by Muslims with links to the main political parties.
The government says that it will soon publish a list of properties that were seized. It that any Hindus wanting to make a claim will have 90 days to do so.
It is estimated by one prominent academic that about 400 to 500 Hindu people are migrating daily from Bangladesh.
Professor Abul Barkat told the BBC that if the current rate continues, Bangladesh will no longer have a Hindu community in 25 years' time.
---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:58 PM ----------
JS clears Bill to reclaim vested property
JS clears Bill to reclaim vested property | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com
Mon, Nov 28th, 2011 8:17 pm BdST
Dial 2000 from your GP mobile for latest news
Dhaka, Nov 28 (bdnews24.com) — Parliament on Monday passed Vested Property Return (Amendment) Bill-2011 in an effort to redress past seizures of so-called 'enemy property'.
Land minister Rezaul Karim Hira placed the Bill before Parliament and it was passed with voice vote.
A district-wise list of returnable properties will now be published within 150 days through a gazette after enactment of the law.
A person or an institution must claim land with proper documents within 90 days after the gazette notification to the district committee. The committee, after scrutinising the claim, will submit its recommendation to the deputy commissioner within 120 days.
As per rules, the deputy commissioner will subsequently give his/her decision within 30 days after getting the recommendation from the district committee. Any person aggrieved with the decision can appeal to the central committee within 60 days.
The central committee will give its decision within 120 days of getting the application from the aggrieved party, and if the applicant is not happy with the decision, an appeal can be lodged with the Appeal Tribunal.
The district committee will comprise six members -- including the additional deputy commissioner (revenue), district registrar and a lawyer -- while the land appeal board chairman will head the central committee, which will have eight members.
If any claim is not found satisfactory, the asset will be considered a government property and the government can sell or transfer the property, as it deems fit. In this case, inheritance, or those enjoying the property under lease, will get preference.
The Act is meant to redress the long-disputed Vested Property Act (VPA), originally introduced by the Pakistan government in the 1960s, and which still gives the state power to deprive a Bangladeshi citizen of his/her property.
The VPA has long been criticised in Bangladesh and abroad as a major violation of the rights of citizens, especially minorities, who have had property seized in the past simply because they left the country under difficult circumstances. The VPA derives from the Enemy Property (Custody and Registration) Order II of 1965, promulgated in Pakistan following a brief war against India in 1965.
This order was directed against those perceived as 'enemy', and was used as an instrument to confiscate land belonging to Hindus accused of supporting India.
Post-independence, Order No-29 of 1972 changed the nomenclature to Vested Property Act without altering the content of the law.
Just before its way out in 2001, the then Awami League government had tabled a new Vested Property Return Act, with a 210-day time limit to prepare a list of documented 'vested property'. The aim was to take steps to restore falsely seized lands.
But by the end of that year, the BNP-led government that had assumed power amended the Bill replacing the 210-day deadline with "indefinite period". The list, though, was never completed.
bdnews24.com/ssz/std/2005h
BBC News - Bangladesh approves Hindu property restoration act
By Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC News, Dhaka
The Bangladeshi parliament has passed a landmark bill that will enable the return of property seized from the country's Hindu minority.
The land was taken under a controversial law enacted in the 1960s.
It was implemented by the East Pakistan administration before Bangladesh became independent in 1971.
The law, initially known as the Enemy Property Act, allowed the authorities to take over land and buildings of Hindus who migrated to India.
Under its terms, property belonging to millions of Hindus who fled to India was confiscated.
The law came into effect in 1965 when Pakistan and India fought a brief war.
The act was renamed as the Vested Properties Act after independence.
The Vested Properties Return (Amendment) Bill 2011 now enables Hindus to reclaim their property taken over by the government and individuals.
"There are some good provisions but it doesn't go far enough to address our demand that all the properties seized or taken over until recently should be returned to their rightful owners," Supreme Court lawyer Subrata Chowdhury told the BBC.
Exodus
Hindu community leaders say that even after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 the law was still used to discriminate against them.
Human rights groups and civil society activists have long urged successive governments to repeal the act.
The governing Awami League made an electoral promise in 2008 that confiscated properties would be given back to the original owners.
Experts say that while the changes to the law are welcome, it will be impossible to return all the land because some of it was confiscated more than 40 years ago.
Most of it appears to have been taken over by Muslims with links to the main political parties.
The government says that it will soon publish a list of properties that were seized. It that any Hindus wanting to make a claim will have 90 days to do so.
It is estimated by one prominent academic that about 400 to 500 Hindu people are migrating daily from Bangladesh.
Professor Abul Barkat told the BBC that if the current rate continues, Bangladesh will no longer have a Hindu community in 25 years' time.
---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:58 PM ----------
JS clears Bill to reclaim vested property
JS clears Bill to reclaim vested property | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com
Mon, Nov 28th, 2011 8:17 pm BdST
Dial 2000 from your GP mobile for latest news
Dhaka, Nov 28 (bdnews24.com) — Parliament on Monday passed Vested Property Return (Amendment) Bill-2011 in an effort to redress past seizures of so-called 'enemy property'.
Land minister Rezaul Karim Hira placed the Bill before Parliament and it was passed with voice vote.
A district-wise list of returnable properties will now be published within 150 days through a gazette after enactment of the law.
A person or an institution must claim land with proper documents within 90 days after the gazette notification to the district committee. The committee, after scrutinising the claim, will submit its recommendation to the deputy commissioner within 120 days.
As per rules, the deputy commissioner will subsequently give his/her decision within 30 days after getting the recommendation from the district committee. Any person aggrieved with the decision can appeal to the central committee within 60 days.
The central committee will give its decision within 120 days of getting the application from the aggrieved party, and if the applicant is not happy with the decision, an appeal can be lodged with the Appeal Tribunal.
The district committee will comprise six members -- including the additional deputy commissioner (revenue), district registrar and a lawyer -- while the land appeal board chairman will head the central committee, which will have eight members.
If any claim is not found satisfactory, the asset will be considered a government property and the government can sell or transfer the property, as it deems fit. In this case, inheritance, or those enjoying the property under lease, will get preference.
The Act is meant to redress the long-disputed Vested Property Act (VPA), originally introduced by the Pakistan government in the 1960s, and which still gives the state power to deprive a Bangladeshi citizen of his/her property.
The VPA has long been criticised in Bangladesh and abroad as a major violation of the rights of citizens, especially minorities, who have had property seized in the past simply because they left the country under difficult circumstances. The VPA derives from the Enemy Property (Custody and Registration) Order II of 1965, promulgated in Pakistan following a brief war against India in 1965.
This order was directed against those perceived as 'enemy', and was used as an instrument to confiscate land belonging to Hindus accused of supporting India.
Post-independence, Order No-29 of 1972 changed the nomenclature to Vested Property Act without altering the content of the law.
Just before its way out in 2001, the then Awami League government had tabled a new Vested Property Return Act, with a 210-day time limit to prepare a list of documented 'vested property'. The aim was to take steps to restore falsely seized lands.
But by the end of that year, the BNP-led government that had assumed power amended the Bill replacing the 210-day deadline with "indefinite period". The list, though, was never completed.
bdnews24.com/ssz/std/2005h
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