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Scrap 'ineffective' laws to free vested property Seminar asks govt

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Lawyers, justices and economists yesterday urged the government to cancel the two Acts about returning of vested property, saying the laws are unable to protect the victims as grabbers have already gobbled up 98 percent of such property.
Loopholes in the Vested Property Return Act, 2001 could not save about 10 lakh Hindus from losing more than 21 lakh acres of land. Even the Amendment of Vested Property Return Act, 2002 could not retrieve the grabbed property, the
discussants said.
They termed the issue of "vested property" a national problem, which has been existing for more than 40 years.
"The Awami League government in the final days of its tenure passed the Vested Property Return Act, 2001 to hand over the vested property back to the real owners," said eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain, convenor of Jatiya Oikya Mancha and president of Gono Forum.
"But the ruling BNP-led coalition government has clearly moved away
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from the anti-encroachment steps in line with the law," he alleged while presiding over the discussion.
The Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (Bilia) and National Committee of Arpita Sampatti Pratirodh Andolon (vested property resist movement) jointly organised the discussion at the Bilia auditorium in the city.
"Out of 6,43,140 acres of vested property across the country, a total of 4,45,726 acres have ended up in encroachment as the government lost control over this property," said renowned economist Prof Abul Barkat citing a government statistics in his keynote paper.
But as the government itself has admitted it has control over only 11.5 lakh acres out of 21 acres of vested property, it means that more than 98 percent of property has been gobbled up by the grabbers, Prof Barkat said.
Declaring the Vested Property Act as anti-constitutional and antihuman rights, he also said the Act violates five rights of the people -economic opportunities, social facilities, political freedom, transparency guarantee and protective security.
"Seventy-two percent grabbers are involved in the BNP, while 11 percent are in the Awami League," Barkat pointed out.
Barrister Aminul Islam said the problem was created as lawyers, economists and other experts were not involved when the law and policy were made in parliament.
Justice KM Sobhan, Justice Naimuddin Ahmed, Kamal Lohani, Advocate Subrata Chowdhury and several members of the minority group, who lost their property, were present.