Tea estate labourers have decided to hold a rally today to protest against a government move to acquire lands of two tea gardens at Chunarughat of Habiganj for setting up a special economic zone. They also decided to submit memorandums to the prime minister Sheikh Hasina, seeking her immediate intervention to abandon the project on the lands they have been residing for generations and making their living. The memo would be submitted through the upazila nirbahi officers of the respective upazilas where tea estate workers stay and work. The decision came from a rally held at Chandpur Tea Garden at Lashkarpur valley of Chunarughat upazila around 11:30am on Sunday at the expiry of their ultimatum issued on December 20. The ultimatum meant for withdrawal of the government’s move to set up a special economic zone by acquiring 511 acres of land at tea estates of Chandpur and Begum Khan, sources said. Several hundred workers of the Chandpur and Begum Khan Tea farms and its adjoining Ramganga and Jowalbhanga tea gardens attended the rally. Convener of Cha Shramikder Bhumi Rakkha Committee, a forum to protect the land of tea garden labourers, Abhirat Bakti, chaired the rally. It was also addressed, among others, by the forum member secretary Nriten Paul, Swapan Santal, Kanchan Paul, Suriya Kumar Roy, Sadhan Santal, Kanak Lata Rajbangshi and Sandha Bhoumick. Labourers of 23 tea gardens of Lashkarpur valley also had observed two-hour work abstention each day last week to press home their demand. Sources in the Habiganj district administration said the tea garden workers have been taking care of 951 acres of land for generations under Duncan Brothers, owners of the Chandpur Tea Garden and Begum Khan Tea Garden, respectively. Recently, the Duncan Brothers handed over 511 acres of land of the two tea gardens located on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway at Chunarughat upazila to the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority, following a government decision to set up the SEZ there. The government move drew a strong criticism by the tea garden workers prompting them to demonstrate when the local administration was trying to demarcate SEZ plot.
