Land gone, so is his kingdom

Once their forefathers had ruled a fairly large territory; once they had a royal throne. But all those glories have faded into a distant past.

Still, members of the Urang community, a small ethnic group mainly based in the Sylhet region, treat them as "the royal family".

Raja Rathindra Urang, currently regarded as "a king", cannot afford to donate money for his people or to ensure justice for them anymore. Ironically enough, now he himself is a victim of gross injustice; now he himself has to work hard to make both ends meet.

During a recent visit to Rathindra's house in Chandantila area under Sylhet Sadar upazila, this correspondent found "the royal house" surrounded by green trees and shrubs, the entrance gate built with bamboo.

According to the Urang people living in the area, the king's temple, which once was within the "royal house compound", has already been grabbed. Stripped of much of his land, his only source of income is now selling milk from the nine cows he has. 

They said that after grabbing all of their cropland, local influential people were now trying to grab the last remaining 3.52 acres of their land.

The flimsy mud hut is what is now left of the 'royal house' of the 'king' of Urangs at Balurchar of Sylhet Sadar upazila. Photo: Star

The king lives in a poorly walled house while his brother, Somra Urang, who too is treated as a king, lives in a hut with his family.

King Rathindra said the Urang people had come in Sylhet, led by king Ravi Urang, father of the present king Rathindra, from Rachi district, India during British rule to work in tea estates in this region.

Most of the Urang people work in different tea estates in Sylhet region including Mirtinga tea estate, Shatgaon tea estate in Moulvibazar and Chandpur and Begumkhan tea estates in Habiganj district, he said.

All the children of "the royal family", except for only two, are now working as tea garden workers.

Raja Rathindra told The Daily Star that "the royal family" had owned a total of 70 acres of land till 2000 but influential people had already grabbed almost all of his family's land.

He said others in the community had had similar experience and all the land owned by king Somra Urang had already been grabbed.

He said land grabbers had driven Ratan Urang, Narod Urang, Birasha Urang and Gohur Urang out of their land.

Earlier, UP chairman Abdul Mosabbir forced his cousins, Shorma Urang and Kumi Urang, out of their land, he said.

They are now sheltered in Daldali tea garden in Sylhet Sadar.

powerful people have grabbed and walled off pieces of land of the ethnic group members. Some structures were also built on those lands. The photos were taken last week. Photo: Star

The Urang people now fear that influential people would grab the last remaining bighas of land belonging to the community.

However, Abdul Mosabbir denied all allegations against him.

"I did not grab any land belonging to the Urang people. I actually bought the land," he said.

Contradicting the UP chairman, Faruq Mahmud Chowdury, president of Sylhet unit Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik, said the basic rights of the Urang people were being violated.

"The responsibility of the state is to ensure the security of the Urang community. The government should take rapid action against the land grabbers," he said.

Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, said the Urang people must get justice as the land grabbed from them "belongs to them as per the ILO Convention-107".