Vested Properties Return Bill-2011
The passage of the Vested Properties Return (Amendment) Bill 2011, which theoretically enables Hindus to reclaim land and property confiscated by the government or occupied by Muslims under the Vested Property Act of 1974, Enemy Property Act 1965 (by Pakistan) and other discriminatory property laws implemented by Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947, was indeed a good initiative by the present government. But Enemy Property Act-1965 still persists and continues to make Hindu minority homeless. Sadly enough, after the independence of Bangladesh, all the elected governments wanted to repeal this black law but none of them took pragmatic steps to materialise it. Finally this government passed Vested Properties Return (Amendment) Bill 2011. But the new legislation, however, does not clearly address how the previously seized properties will be returned and it is uncertain whether the Bill will be effectively implemented. In addition to that, the time period set is too short for them to understand and apply to reclaim their property. According to the bill, in the event of death of the original owner, rights of inheritance shall apply in accordance with Hindu religious personal laws. Hindu women would therefore be automatically excluded from inheritance. This latest Bill may thus become yet another in a series of laws that have failed to return confiscated properties and end the ongoing encroachment of Hindu owned land. So, the government should give highest importance to this to ensure the return of the property by maintaining transparency in the legal procedures for the survival of this minority group in Bangladesh.
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