Teachers and staff of Murshider Bazar Girls' High School have harvested ripe paddy from school land held by Motiar Rahman, an Awami League leader in Malibari union of Gaibandha Sadar upazila.

The paddy was cut on Tuesday (13 May) from land behind the school in the Murshider Bazar area. The teachers and Motiar, along with his family, have made counter-accusations over who owns the land.

Teachers and staff allege that Motiar took over 8 decimals of land donated in the name of the school, which was brought under MPO in 2002, by two local people. He has farmed it for the past 17 years, using his influence as joint secretary of the union Awami League to keep it.

After the change of government on 5 August, they say, Motiar forcibly planted paddy on the land even though the school had hung a signboard there. The teachers then informed local public representatives and the upazila administration about the ownership. They say that on Tuesday morning, in the presence of local people and with the help of nearby labourers, they cut the paddy on 7 decimals of the land.

Motiar Rahman, his father and other family members have accused the teachers of cutting the paddy by force.

Motiar Rahman said his family has held and used the land since their forefathers' time and planted paddy on it this season too. But the teachers, he said, brought people including local tenants and cut the ripe paddy. He said the teachers are involved in Jamaat politics and used their influence to take the paddy. Several arbitration meetings had earlier examined documents about ownership without reaching a solution, he said.

His father, Manju Mia, said: "We have been growing paddy and other crops on this land since those days. But suddenly the teachers cut the paddy. The land donated to the school is separate. Our paddy was cut by force without identifying the land by plot and khatian numbers from the documents."

Assistant head teacher A S M Muslim Ali said on Wednesday afternoon that the 8 decimals are in the school's name and the school pays land tax and mutation fees regularly. But Motiar has held the land by the force of his power, and earlier mortgaged it to others for money, he said. Despite repeated requests, Motiar did not give it up. "With the help of local people we have finally cut the paddy on the school's land after a long time. The money from selling it will be spent on developing the school," he said.

He also alleged that Shakil Mia, son of Motiar's elder brother Lutfar Rahman, is employed as the school's night guard but does not come to school regularly.

Assistant teacher Nurunnabi Sarkar said the school has 67 decimals of land in total, of which 26 decimals were donated by local residents Abdul Mujid Sarkar and his brother Golzar Rahman. Of this, Motiar has held the 8 decimals behind the tin-shed building, claiming it as his own. After 5 August the school took possession and prepared to plant paddy, but Motiar planted seedlings while the school was closed on a Friday and Saturday. The teachers then showed all the land documents to the local union parishad chairman and the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), cut the paddy with all teachers and staff present, and sold it after threshing, he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.