The family seeks for intervention of the prime minister for alleviation from the situation
A city corporation ward councilor said to have demanded money from the family of language movement martyr Abul Barakat in Gazipur.
The family has lodged a complaint with the district administration on Tuesday, a copy of which has also been forwarded to district police superintendent.
Martyr Abul Barakat’s nephew Ainuddin Barakat lodged the complaint against Gazipur City Corporation Ward 18 Commissioner Safar Ali seeking alleviation from the “harassment.”
Abul Barakat was a martyr in the movement for Bangla as the state language for the then East Pakistan, what is seen as the beginning of a rebellion against Pakistan rule that later sprouted to freedom in 1971.
A government allowed Hasina Bibi, mother of martyr Barakat, permanent settlement in a piece of 68 decimals of land in 1981, nephew Ainuddin said.
The land under Kacharibari Naljani Mouja was endorsed in Tk2 government stamp, he said.
Then land minister, local MP late Habibullah, Land Commissioner Fazlul Karim and other high-ups of the government were present during the land handover, he added.
Later of that year on April 21, Hasina Bibi died and was buried in that land in line with a government decision.
The land was passed on to her heirs who built some shops on the plot. The successors earn their daily bread from those establishments, Ainuddin said.
Recently, when the assistant commissioner for land proposed mutation and distribution of the plot according to a revised survey, Councilor Safar Ali allegedly intervened.
The commissioner pleaded to stop the re-mutation and distribution of the land and lodged a miscellaneous lawsuit over the matter.
Councilor Safar Ali then demanded large amount of cash from Barakat’s family in exchange of withdrawing the lawsuit several times, Ainuddin said.
Safar Ali claimed the possessors of the plot were not heirs to Hasina Bibi, occupying the land through “illegal means.”
Ainuddin claimed that a certification from Ward 17 councillor stated that the document proved that the occupants are heirs to Hasina Bibi.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over a posthumous Ekushey Padak (one of the highest civilian awards) of Shaheed Barkat to Ainuddin in 2000.
Despite such vivid documents, the family of language martyr Barkat is under continuous threat of extortion, according to Ainuddin Barakat.
“We are pleading for the intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in this matter,” Ainuddin said.
Councilor Safar Ali was an active member of Krishak League and is currently a supporter of the Awami League, Gazipur Krishak League President Ali Akbar Chowdhury said.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
