Dhaka: Bangladesh's minority communities
and eight other rights groups today demanded revision of a
proposed law to scrap the controversial Vested Property Act,
under which the Hindu properties were seized by the
government.
Hindu Bouddho Christian Oikya Parishad and its allies
in a statement issued a three-point demand as the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Land Ministry
submitted before the House its report yesterday scrutinising
the Vested Property Return (amendment) Bill 2011 to be passed
as law.
"All property declared vested after the March 23, 1974
must be kept beyond the inventory of the vested property in
line with the laws no. 45 and 46 enacted during Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's government and (subsequent) mandatory
order of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court," the
joint statement of the nine groups said.
They demanded revision of a proposed law to scrap the
Vested Property Act to end the "protracted miseries" of the
Hindu community.
The statement said the rights of ownerships of the
co-sharers of the vested property alongside the original
owners also must be preserved.
It said provision for rights of ownership only for
people with "continued Bangladeshi citizenship" to be replaced
with "Bangladeshi citizens" omitting the word "continued".
The Hindu properties were seized under a law called
Enemy Property Act when the war broke out in 1965 while it was
renamed as Vested Property Act after Bangladesh's 1971
independence.
The law was widely criticised as a major violation of
the minority rights.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 00:30