The High Court on Thursday asked the government authorities and the mayor of Dhaka south city not to evict the sweepers from their century-old Miranzilla Harijan Sweepers Colony at Bangshal in Old Dhaka of the capital until they were relocated and rehabilitated in 30 days.
The vacation bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Md Atabullah asked the authorities to maintain status quo for 30 days on the ongoing Dhaka South City Corporation鈥檚 drive with an escort of police force.
The drive started on June 10 to evict a section of sweepers from Miranzilla Harijan Sweepers Colony.
The court also asked the government authorities to explain in four weeks why the eviction of sweepers without their relocation and rehabilitation wouldn鈥檛 be declared illegal.
The court passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyers Monoj Kumar Bhowmick, Utpol Biswas and Aynunnahar Siddiqua in public interest.
Sweepers, who were brought to the region by the British colonial administration to work as cleaners, alleged that the DSCC mayor reassured them that only 20 houses would be demolished.
But the corporation is evicting at least 87 out of 400 families to expand the kitchen market located in the area.
The lawyers argued in the petition that the government authorities did not follow the procedure to evict the sweeper community.
They said that the government authorities were duty bound to preserve the fundamental rights of all citizens including sweepers according to the constitution.
The state shall frame its policy to ensure that the citizens鈥� right to life, living and livelihood would be upheld, the lawyers said.
Deputy attorney general Samarendra Nath Biswas told the court that the Dhaka South City Corporation was evicting a section of sweepers who occupied the colony illegally.
He added that the corporation did not evict family members of those sweepers who were now staff members of the corporation.
The corporation would arrange to relocate illegal sweepers to a nearby place within 30 days, the DAG said.
Different political parties and eminent citizens, meanwhile, on Thursday protested against evictions of sweepers without arranging for their relocation and rehabilitation.
A total of 60 eminent citizens issued a statement on Thursday demanding that the residents of the Harijan colony at Miranzilla in Bangshal, not be evicted without ensuring their proper rehabilitation in other places.聽
The signatories of the statement included Nijera Kori coordinator Khushi Kabir, rights activist Sultana Kamal, Campaign for Popular Education executive director Rasheda K Chowdhury, Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman, Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer ZI Khan Panna and photographer Shahidul Alam.
Leaders of different political parties and organisations visited the ravages of sweepers鈥� colony and protested against the eviction drive.
Those who visited the colony included leaders and activists of the Jatiya Party and the Ganosamhati Andolan.
They called on the authorities to stop the evictions.
Jatiya Party chairman Ghulam Muhammad Quader, also the leader of the opposition in the parliament, said that sweepers were living in the colony for a long time and the people living here were working as cleaners of the Dhaka city.
Ganosamhati Andolan chief coordinator Zonayed Saki said that sweepers were poor people and living in the colony for a long time.