Matan Hasda – Bangladeshi farmer
In Bangladesh, there are more than 45 indigenous (adibashi) communities. Adibashi are amongst the most marginalised in Bangladesh with a literacy rate of just 9% and most working as wage-labourers. One of the biggest challenges facing these communities is the issue of land grabbing, and many families – and in some cases, whole villages – are losing their land to non-indigenous people. Matan Hasda tells us his story.
My family
“My name is Matan Hasda, I have 6 children and live with my wife, I harvest fields and catch fish. In a day, I make about 74 taka (55p) and receive 1.5 kilos of rice. I work when there are crops to cut, but for about three months of the year, there is no work as the fields are being planted. My wife also works in the same field but she gets paid less, she earns 50 taka (36p).
“The name of this village is Bangla-amonpur. My father died an old man and lived here, and his father before him, also lived here. We previously understood this land to be “khas” (government) owned and we were not concerned about our rights as we have been here for many years.
Fighting to keep land
“One day some mango trees were planted around the village and we were told by the people who planted the trees that we were no longer able to live on the land because they had claimed it. In this village there are 15 families and about 74 people they are all affected by the situation.
“We don’t have the people within our community who can help us with these matters so we informed AUS of the situation. AUS have assisted in our understanding of the court system, the things that need to be done, who we need to go to. We did not understand the land management issues or about the court and legal system. Where we did not previously understand our rights, AUS have helped us understand them. They helped us bring our cases to court. There have been six altogether, we have won one case and the remaining five are still on going.
Needing to sell cattle to buy land
“If we do not win the court case it would be a great hardship. We would not be able to live here, we would have no choice but to leave. We do not have sufficient money to buy land but no one is going to allow us to live on their land free of charge. We would need to raise the money to buy a piece of land, perhaps sell one of the cows which would be a great loss but there would be no alternative as we would need to live somewhere. We are also trying to save, we have about five or six thousand taka saved, and would use this towards the purchase of land.
Impact on children’s schooling
“If there was a shortage of cash it would be more difficult to send my children to school. There would be a trade-off between sending them to school and buying land to live on. It is difficult financially to support our children through school, the children need books, stationery. My wife and I are working hard to support their education and we hope our children can learn skills.
“Without the help of AUS we would not have been able to remain in this village.”
Gina Dizon is an advocacy officer volunteering with an organisation called AUS. Based in Rajshahi in the northwest, AUS offers legal advice and support to villagers facing land loss, as well as other services, such as education, skills training and healthcare. Gina is supporting them with their awareness raising activities and offering advice on national policy and advocacy work.