by Admin | September 2nd, 2008
This was sent into us recently from Nonviolence International affiliate in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh-YMP
Phulbari movement in Bangladesh:
A success story of nonviolent process
by Rafique al Islam
Nonviolence International – Bangladesh
Phulbari is a tiny settlement in northern Bangladesh which in August 2006 mobilized a general strike for four consecutive days which compelled the government to accept their demands, especially the cancellation of a contract with the UK company, Asia Energy for an open-pit coal mine, covering four subdistricts. The coalmine could displace a half million people in the region.
When Asia Energy began its activities in Phulbari local people of the region hardly had any idea of how it was going to affect their lives and the environment. At tea stalls and shops, some discussed about the project and its extent and lasting impact. These concerns brought the Phulbari Community Council into being in April 2005, which in turn brought about a larger movement known as the Phulbari Rakkha (protection) Committee which provided the space for people from various sectors of society to express their concerns. Gradually a mass movement against Asia Energy and its project gathered momentum. Since it was purely a local nonviolent movement, their key methods were processions and rallies with a common demand of cancellation of the coalmine project. However this drew the attention of other people in Bangladesh and slowly a national movement supporting these goals formed. Tension increased when Asia Energy started conducting surveys in the proposed coalmine area, and made clear that the project would entail local people being permanently removed from their ancestral lands.
This led to a commitment to a stronger resistance and a plan to oust the British company from Phulbari. Movement leaders organized a showdown on 26 August 2006 in which more than 30,000 people Muslims, Hindus, farmers, traders, ethnic minorities took to the streets.
The Bangladesh Rifles deployed to contain the agitators and save Asia Energy offices, opened fired on the demonstrators, leaving five persons dead.
The deaths were the spur for national action and the call for a non-strop general strike at Phulbari from 27August. Authorities could not control the situation even with large deployment of the Police and the Military personnel. The peoples movement took control of the town on 29 August. National political parties and other civil society organizations strongly condemned the government for mishandling the situation and one major political party backed the call for a nationwide general strike in support of the Phulbari people’s movement.
The government now responded by sending several officials to negotiate with the movement. The movement’s negotiation team received assistance from eminent scholars and other professionals sympathetic to the Phulbari cause. The negotiations ended with the government accepting all six demands of the people’s movement, including that of withdrawing Asia Energy from Phulbari and its expulsion from Bangladesh, cancellation of open-pit mining in Phulbari and compensation for the families of the dead and wounded.
The following day was one of jubilation as the settlement of Phulbari who embraced one another, exchanged greetings with tea and sweets for their victory. Thousands of people of the town and its surrounding villages gathered at the Phulbari Government College field to celebrate. Leaders of the successful movement hailed the people for their unity that brought the victory. They, however, cautioned them remain vigilant for another resistance if the company recruited local collaborators and tried to implement the project again.
Pro-market advocates in Bangladesh have criticized the people’s movement against Asia Energy. They belittle the accomplishment of mobilizing 30 thousand people. These people were genuinely discontented farmers who launched the movement only for the sake of their existence. This uprising of ordinary people proved that a nonviolent process brought about through the united action of ordinary people can force policy makers in Bangladesh to rethink issues of underground resources and how they should be used for the greater benefit of the country. This victory had once again secured the land that people tilled for generations.
On 26 August 2008, the Phulbari movement commemorated those who died 2 years ago,
information can be found at: http://phulbariresistance.blogspot.com/