BNP leader occupies Sunil Gangopadhyay’s ancestral land in Madaripur
A Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader in Madaripur’s Dasar upazila has allegedly occupied the ancestral property of renowned poet and novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay.
The BNP leader vandalised several photographs and furniture and destroyed books at a house on the premises and later stored OMS (open market sales) rice there.
The BNP leader, Sohel Hawlader, is a former legal affairs secretary of BNP’s Dasar upazila committee. He is from Kajibakai area of the upazila.
Post of upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Dasar upazila is currently vacant. Asked about the allegation, adjacent Kalkini upazila’s UNO Uttam Kumar Das told Prothom Alo, ‘A BNP leader named Sohel Hawlader took possession of the house of the writer and kept OMS dealer’s rice there. He had removed the rice before we took any initiative. Action will be taken against that occupier.’
Dasar and Kalkini upazila administrations and local sources said Sunil Gangopadhyay had 7.15 acres lands at Purba Maizpara mouza under Kajibakai union in Dasar upazila. Of the land, 2.97 acres were recorded as Khas land.
BNP leader Sohel Hawlader and his men broke the lock of a tin shed house used as Sunil Memorial Library on Saturday afternoon.
The vandalised items were used by the writer, books, furniture and several photographs of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They kept a truck load of OMS rice inside the house and locked it. They also vandalised and removed a signboard installed by district administration in front of the house.
A person who was in charge of overseeing the property told Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, ‘Since the political changeover, Sohel Hawlader started to claim ownership of the land. As some Awami League men criticised him, Sohel Hawlader attacked their houses. Since none dare to speak up now, Sohel Hawlader along with his men had broken the lock of the tin shed house and stored OMS rice there. Local administration and everyone else know it.’
Sohel Hawlader did not pick up the phone calls made to his mobile phone. He didn’t either respond to text message.
Madaripur’s deputy commissioner Mohammad Marufur Rashid Khan told Prothom Alo that UNO and assistant commissioner (land) have been asked to take steps against those involved with this.
‘They will take necessary steps to free the writer’s ancestral property from encroachers,’ he added.
Meanwhile cultural activists condemned the attack on Sunil Gangopadhyay’s ancestral property. They demanded exemplary punishment of the encroachers and the writer's house be freed from encroachment and preserved and renovated.
Fiction writer Masud Sumon said, 'Ancestral property is the last vestige of our renowned litterateur and our beloved writer. Occupation of that land saddened us.'
He demanded punishment of the encroacher and restoration of the land.
Udvash recitation organisation’s general secretary Anjuman said, ‘A museum and Sunil literature centre were supposed to be established by the government on the ancestral land of the writer. It is unexpected that the land has been usurped after the political changeover.’
Sunil Gangopadhyay was born at his maternal grandfather’s house at Aamgram village in Madaripur on 7 September in 1934. He died in Kolkata on 23 October in 2012.