Human chain in protest of encroachment, case of Forest Department in Panchagarh
Debiganj (Panchagarh) Correspondent
The families of the victims organized a human chain and protest against the harassment case and encroachment of the forest department in Debiganj of Panchagarh.
On Thursday (August 1) at 11:30 a.m, a human chain and protest rally was held at Debiganj Upazila Parishad square. About 500 people from the victims' families participated in the human chain.
Khorshed Alam, coordinator of the affected landowners, Ghiyas Uddin Chowdhury, president of Upazila Awami League, Golam Kibria Chowdhury, Tofazzal Hossain Khoka and others spoke at the human chain.
The speakers in the human chain said that by misusing the Private Forest Ordinance-1959, some dishonest officers and employees of the forest department have unlawfully occupied 5,602 acres of land belonging to about 5,000 families of the entire district since the last five decades. Also, the forest department is harassing the land owners by filing false cases.
Not only that, the land owned was recorded in the name of the forest department. The participants in the human bond complained that it took almost a century to recover. After the human chain, the victims submitted a memorandum to the District Commissioner through the Upazila Nirbahi Officer.
In this regard, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shariful Alam said that they may have a claim on the forest department's land, it is a matter of proof in the documents. However, the law cannot be taken away while occupying the land. Received the memorandum, will send it to the higher authority.
