THE DEVELOPMENT PARADOX : MEGA PROJECT, RESOURCE SCARCITY AND CONFLICT NEXUS IN BANGLADESH

Md Rafiqul Islam1 Mohammad Shaheenur Alam2

Abstract Conflict over the land accusation for the development projects is the latest phenomenon in Bangladesh. The general people in some occasions have engaged in conflict with the government and multinational corporations in protest of land accusation for the name of the development projects. There is a scanty of the research work to investigate the underlying and proximate causes of the violence and conflict in regard to implementing the development projects in Bangladesh. This article attempts to fill up this gap by analysing some cases of conflict between the general people and law enforcing agencies while implementing the development projects. Based on the case study, this article argues that resource scarcity is the underlying cause of the conflict. The question of the livelihood of the poor people and the government’s inability to rehabilitate the displaced people after the eviction also motivate people to wage into conflict. The population pressure, resource capture by the elites, and fear of losing vital resource by the marginal people (for example, land) play a crucial role in forming conflicts and violence. This paper finds that unholy alliance between the multinational corporation and government bodies exploit the people attached to the environmental resources, which is now a prime cause of violence. The paper, thus, suggests that no project should be implemented if it forces to displace a significant number of people from their land. Moreover, alternative source of living and sustainable livelihood for the poor people are the fundamental prerequisites before implementing any development project in the highly populated areas in Bangladesh.

Key Words: Development project, Resource scarcity, Conflict and violence.

1 Md Rafiqul Islam is Associate Professor (On Leave); Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Dhaka. Email: [email protected] 2 Mohammad Shaheenur Alam is Assistant Professor; Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Dhaka. Email: [email protected] Social Science Review [The Dhaka University Studies, Part-D], Vol. 35, No. 2, December 2018 24 Islam and Alam

Introduction After the emergence of an independent state, Bangladesh faced multifaceted problems, such as natural disaster, poverty, political turmoil and several military coups in politics. However, the resurgence of democracy in 1991 ushered new hope for the poor country to attain the economic, social and political development. More precisely, the „green revolution‟ and booming textile industries changed the cycle of the economy of Bangladesh. Currently, the country is moving towards the „middle-income‟ country. In the last decade, the country has initiated some large-scale development projects, such as Padma Bridge, Rampal coal based-electricity project, and Phulbari coalmine project. In order to implement the projects, the successive government and multinational corporations acquired land from the local people. However, on many occasions, the local people, social activists and civil society personnel have opposed the project, land acquisition and the method of implementation of the project. This opposition from the local people and civil society personnel eventually generated conflict situation with the law enforcing agencies. In several occasions, killing, abduction, torturing, and human rights violation have occurred. Case studies on conflict situation show that government, national and multi-national companies twisted information and sometimes manipulated the system to implement protect. As a result, stockholders and local people most likely remained in dark and unaware about the cost and benefit of projects. The local and international civil society organisations have also raised the issue of environmental concern and detrimental effects on the environment and population. This article considers the issue of the development project, protest and conflict as thought- provoking and requires investigation of why local people oppose the development projects and wage into conflict. For exploring the above question this paper has used some frameworks such as „resource scarcity and conflict‟ (Homer-Dixon, 1999, 2010) and „population pressure and civil strife‟ (Khal, 2006); „demography and civil violence‟ (Goldstone, 2002).The mal-development and corruption in the local level, as well as the interest sucking mentality of the multinational corporations, create a complex situation that undermines the interest of poor and marginal communities (Homer-Dixon, 1999). The poor and marginal communities are the most victim of resource capture as they depend on natural resources, such as land and forest for their existence and livelihood. Development projects implemented by the government or companies dislocate local poor people and complicate their livelihood options (Clark, 2017; Gellert & Lynch, 2003)). In Bangladesh implementation of development projects also dislocate the poor The Development Paradox 25 and marginal people. The land acquisition for the development projects has displaced poor and marginal people who depend on their livelihood and shelter. People attached to the land have, thus, fought in a number of occasions against the law enforcing agencies and company personnel (Lutfa, 2011; Nuremowla, 2016).The mal- development, resource capture, unequal distribution of the resources and corruption of the top officials exploit people and ground for occurring the human rights violation and conflict. Precisely, mismanagement of the resources and mal development ostensibly violate the rights of poor and marginal people (Muhammad, 2014).This paper, thus, first gives a framework of environmental resource scarcity and conflict with the working definition of „resource scarcity‟ and „resource conflict‟. Secondly, the methodology and process of case selection have been discussed. Then, this paper discusses the core issue of how and why conflict and violence are originating in almost all development projects undertaken by the government and multinational corporations. Finally, some policy recommendations based on environmental justice and human rights perspectives have been proposed as a policy guideline.

Literature Review and the Framework of the Study The causal relationship between environmental resource scarcity and violence is relatively an old issue that emerged in the early 1990s (Deligiannis, 2012). During the time, the issue of national security has been analysed with the connection of environmental resource scarcity, social and political stability. This endeavour founded some conceptual and theoretical arguments on environmental and security relationship(Dabelko & Simmons, 1997; Gleick, 1989; Kahl, 2002; Lipschutz & Holdren, 1990; Renner, 1989; Westing, 1986). The frameworks mainly focused on how human-induced environmental damages complicate national and international security. In the 1990s, the projects of the environment, scarcity and violence by Homer-Dixon and ENCOP group headed by Bachler developed the causal relationship between the resource scarcity, population pressure and violence within and between countries. These two projects founded the basic idea that increasing population and environmental degradation are connected that result in resource scarcity, poverty and income inequality in many developing and underdeveloped societies. The resource scarcity, discrimination and poor institutions lead to deprivation of some sections of people from their proper share in the resources. The deprivation then generates frustration and grievances among people who are attached to the resources and consequently generate violence, civil strife and conflicts (Homer- Dixon, 2010). Based on the qualitative case study and empirical evidence in countries 26 Islam and Alam like India, Egypt, Pakistan Peru, and the Philippines Homer-Dixon (2010) proposed three sets of scarcity:supply-induced scarcity, demand-induced scarcity and structural scarcity that generate conflict within and between states in different forms (Homer Dixon, 2010, p.7). The supply induced scarcity of the resource is created for the degradation and depletion of the resources. The increasing demand from the people for resources generate the demand scarcity. On the other hand, structural scarcity of the resources is formed for the unequaldistribution by the social and political system. In this regard, population pressure and government policy greatly impact on environment and resources which generate conflict. Environmental degradation due to human intervention and development projects alter the existing socio-economic system that causes new forms of conflict and may escalate the already existing conflicts (Baechler, 1998).The politically motivated development goal and vested interest group cause environmental resource scarcity and deprive particular group form their needs and expectations (Ibid). In such situation, environmental stress and resource scarcities coincide with political tensions and unjust access to resources (Dalby, 2002, p. 97). The lootabulity of natural resources and high value of some resources(for example, gold and diamond) also influence contending groups to control, use and export economically valued resources to export for profit. For example, in African countries, valuable resources (for example, Diamond) played a role to generate conflicts between and among ethnic groups as well as between the army and militant groups for capturing and exporting (Collier, 2000; Hauge & Ellingsen, 1998). The UN study also outlines that political failure of managing and using the resources for all sections of people may lead to conflict and violence in the political system (Grzybowski, 2012). In such cases, the resource scarcity and resource abundance turn into a „resource curse‟ for those countries as it carries misfortune for many of the people due to the resource capture by a small number of people. The above discussion reveals that scarcity of renewable resources plays a major role in generating violence and conflict in a society. The social and political system of transitional society fails to ensure equality, justice and rule of law. Political power is exercised by an undemocratic manner, not by the popular voting system. Marginal people are highly discriminated and deprived by the social and state system. Moreover, powerful people particularly civil and military elite control state power and extract maximum benefits. The military and civil bureaucrats do not even dare to operate financial institutions and big projects simultaneously with exercising public offices. The discussion on conflicts over the projects based on the environmental The Development Paradox 27 resources (for example land, gas and oil) follows some phases to originate the conflict in any location. These phases can best be presented by the following model:

Figure 1: A Causal Model of Resource Scarcity and Violence

First condition -Degradation, depletion and overuse of the resources -Resource Population pressure Final condition

Third condition -Conflict

-Weak state and governance -Violence -Competition over resources -Torture -Political instability -Human rights violation -Killing and abduction Second condition -Resource capture -Discrimination -Corruption -Marginalization -Exclusion -Fear of losing livelihood -Inequality Source: The authors develop the model based on the theoretical ideas on environment and conflict relationship. According to the model, the country is more prone to conflict and violence which is characterised by the population pressure, serious environmental degradation and resource scarcity (Homer-Dixon, 2010; Khal, 2008). The population pressure and resource scarcity will generate the conditions of the second stage of conflict, such as discrimination, resource capture and inequality. The political elites also behave differently and tend to exclude the weaker section of the people from the share of the resources through misuse of power, corruption and torture. The resource dependent people, thus, suffer from marginalisation and fear of losing livelihood. In the third stage of the conflict cycle, the state mechanism performs poorly to make balance between the population and resources. As a result, the final stage of conflict, violence, torture, killing abduction and human rights violence are occurred.

Methods, Case Selection and Description This paper is written based on some recent case studies of Bangladesh. As a methodology, the case study is applied to explore the relationship and real-life 28 Islam and Alam phenomenon based on the limited number of events that happened within a period. This is an empirical inquiry of examining a phenomenon based on the real-life facts (Yin, 2002, 2011). Based on some contemporary case studies, this study explores how conflict and violence are being associated with the resource scarcity in Bangladesh. In fact, drawing causality between the dependent (violence and conflict) and independent variable (resource scarcity) is a highly arduous task (Salehyan, 2008), as there are some other factors play a major role in determining violence and conflict. Appropriate data is also crucial to draw causality between the resource scarcity and violence in Bangladesh. Thus, we have studied major cases of violent conflict and violence which have been originated between two or more groups due to the renewable resource scarcity, such as land. Case study method is an old and extensively used to explore the causal relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Homer-Dixon used case study method concluding whether resource scarcity generates violence in many of the developing and under-developed countries (Homer-Dixon, 2010). For selecting the cases, the study scrutinised well- circulated newspapers, such as The Daily Star (English), Prothom alo (Bangla), Bangla Tribune; and other websites of human rights-based organisations of Bangladesh, such as Kapaeeng Foundation, Odhikar and Aain and Salish Kendaro. Although many small-scale conflicts have been originated in Bangladesh for the resource scarcity, this paper purposefully selects the following cases to explore the relationship between the resource scarcity and violent relationship.

Table 1: List of Conflicts

Name of the conflict Year Present condition Conflict over Phulbari coal mine project 2006 Unresolved issue Conflict over proposed Arealbillairport 2011 Government has setback due to mass project resistance Conflict over Rupgang Army Housing 2010 Initially Army camp withdraws and Project set back from the project. However, this project is ongoing now. Conflict Banshkhali Coal power project 2016 Conflict continues between the local people and government forces Conflict over Rampal power plant project 2015 Ongoing conflict Conflict over tourism project in the CHT 2015 Ongoing Conflict over land of the Santal community 2016 Ongoing Source: Summarised by the authors based on newspapers reports, 2006-2016. The Development Paradox 29

In Bangladesh, about eighty-five percent of people depend on the agriculture directly or indirectly for their livelihood (Miah, Bari, & Rahman, 2011). Currently, garments and manufacturing industries also occupy the major source of income and consume skilled and unskilled labour forces. Besides, government and multinational companies have proceeded to implement mega projects such as Power plants, Padma Bridge, flyovers and expansion of industrial units, garments and textiles. One of the important characteristics is to encourage private people and company to invest in the development sectors. This public-private initiative (PPI) has significant impacts on the development of Bangladesh. Despite the economic gain, these projects have grounded the situation of exploitation of poor people through eviction from their land and property by the name of constructing industries and development projects. The implementation of the development projects has equally followed some conflict situations between the local people and government forces. This conflict situation happened for resource scarcity, particularly land. In Bangladesh, land bears a significant meaning as people‟s life and livelihood are connected with the ancestral land. People by no means want to lose their land. The following sections provide the major cases of conflicts that happened in Bangladesh in recent past. Phulbari Coal Mine Project The first case of conflict based on the environmental resource is situated in the Phulbari of Dizanpur district. Since 2006 the Asia Energy Company initiated its open-pit coal mine project in the said location. Although the company received permission and all support from the government, local people, particularly the owner of the land protested the open pit mining system. The police forces proceeded to help the company people to start their work. The local people become violent and opted to resist the company to operate open-pit mining in their region. It was said that the project, if implemented, would dislocate 50,000 people and 12 thousand households from their house and agricultural land (Nuremowla, 2012; Hoshour& Shearer, 2017). The government source confirmed that around 130,000 people would be affected by the project; although independent sources mentioned that the project would displace around 700,000 people (Luthfa, 2011). Among the people to be affected around 50,000 people from 23 different tribal groups would be displaced and lose their house and land (Ibid). In 2006, police fired on a peaceful protest that resulted in three people killing and 100 injured. Finally, Asia Energy left the project area due to the increasing protest from the local population. It is also mentioned that a UK-based 30 Islam and Alam

Global Coal Management company also tried to implement the project which again agitated people. The local people hardly want to lose their agriculture land, water sources, ponds, fruits trees and living surrounding. The local people also denied receiving cash as compensation the company offered to them. Local people argue that they do not want cash, they will not eat cash; but they want the land to build houses and cultivate. Finally, the government has announced that they are no more interested in extracting coal from the region by open pit method. In sum, the Phulbari case shows that environmental resource, such as land, fruit trees, fresh water, water sources are the leading cause of protesting against the project. The Arealbill Proposed Airport Project The proposed „Arealbill Bangabandhu International Airport‟ project in the Munshiganj district is the second case where Bangladesh government wanted to construct an international airport by the name of the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Accordingly, the proposed place was chosen, and the district commissioner was ordered to acquire the land. According to the project, 11,250 acres of land is needed to construct the full-fledged international airport. The local people did not allow acquiring land for the project. According to their view, a hundred thousand people would lose their livelihood and arable land if the project is implemented. There was a fear of eviction and displacement of a hundred thousand people from their long-standing household (Morshed, 2011). They claimed that many people depend on the resources of this bill for their daily livelihood. Once the land is acquired, they will have nothing to lead their life. Around 15,000 people protested this projected and demanded to reconsider the project. Police tended to ensure the law and order situation and open the fire that killed one people including more than 100 injured. The main issue in this project was the land and fish resources on which the poor people of the said areas depend. Rupganj Housing Project This conflict was originated when the Bangladesh army set up a camp in Rupganj upazila in Narayangang district to implement the housing project by the name „Army Housing Scheme (AHS)‟. It was alleged that the Bangladesh Army forced people to sell their land (Reza, 2010). As a result, thousands of villagers protested the unlawful act of the Bangladesh army. The area is inhabited by farmers and also used as agricultural land. Bangladesh Army offered a high amount of money as the price of The Development Paradox 31 land and motivated people to sell their land. Some people denied selling their land arguing that they will not have any piece of agricultural land if they sell it. It was also alleged that people were also not allowed to sell their land to others except the Army. This decision fuelled the owner of the land as well as the local people who agitated against the decision of land capturing. Eventually, police fired and injured many people with killed one people. However, the then concerned minister denied that the government had not provided any permission to build private housing in that said place (Ibid). In the aftermath of the conflict, police filed warrants for more than 4000- 5000 people. The core issue of this conflict is the land which is extremely scarce in Bangladesh. Banshkhali Coal Power Project, Chittagong The implementation of the Banshkhali coal-based power plant in Chattogram district generated conflict situation between local people and Bangladesh police. Conflict situation was originated when S. Alam Group, a local company with the help of China‟s SEPCO-3 Electric Power Constitution Corporation and HTG Group, attempted to construct a power plant based on imported coal (Cultural Survival, 2016). The S. Alam group proceeded to acquire land of 1,700 acres for constructing the project. Local people protested the project for fearing of land and livelihood. Local people also claim that this project would pollute the environment, destroy biodiversity, contaminate soil, and cause various health impacts (Environmental Justice Atlas, 2017). Police urged the protesters to return to their home and help the company to build a power plant. People denied and continued their agitation, blocked the company man not to work. Police finally fired and killed four people injured more than 200 people (Cultural Survival, 2016). The protest and action of the police force aggravated the situation, but the government reiterated to continue the work. Local people again came into the road and protested the power plant. Rampal Power Plant Project Another conflicting development project is Rampal thermal power plant to be constructed jointly by Bangladesh owned Power Development Board and India‟s NTPC Ltd. This project is a 1320MW capacity project to be completed within 2020 which will provide 10 percent of the country‟s electricity generation (Chowdhury, 2017). This project has dual concern for Bangladesh: one is the proximity to the mangrove forest Sundarbans1, and another is dislocation of the more than 2,000 families from their agricultural land and shrimp cultivation (Dhaka Tribune, 2017). 32 Islam and Alam

Civil society, professionals and activists have raised their concern and protested the project arguing that this project will destroy our national pride Sundarban. The UNESCO and other environmental organisations across the world have raised their concern about the impact of this project on the Sundarban. Law enforcing agencies are proactive against the protesters. Many of the protestors have been arrested, beaten and harassed. Tourism Projects in the CHT and Conflicts Promoting and popularising tourism in the hill and reserved forest area is viewed as the most thriving opportunity for the economy of Bangladesh. The government, the army and private organisations have invested to popularise the tourism in the hill which is originating conflict between the ethnic minority people and government forces. This is viewed by the ethnic people that tourism and reserve forest projects do not serve the interest of the local people, in many instances, it is leading the ethnic minority groups marginalised (Chakma, 2016). Thus, ethnic minority people have been engaged in conflicts with the law enforcing agencies on several occasions for protecting their rights over land and forests. Tourism business in the Sajek valley, a tourist spot in the Rangamati district constructed by the Bangladesh Army, has raised questions about the existence of the ethnic minority people. The ethnic minority people view that Sajek tourism business is the curse for the local ethnic people and thus, opposing to enhance the tourism business in other parts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) (Ibid). The ethnic minority people also protested against land acquisition in the Alutila of the Khagrachhari district where the government wanted to develop tourist spots. Finally, government set back from the project due to protest and opposition of the ethnic people. The ethnic minority people in the CHT are opposing development initiative because they view that it might lose their land and rights over the CHT authority. This initiative of promoting tourism in the CHT is causing conflict and violence between the ethnic minority people and government forces. Conflict Over land of the Santal Community Land capture by the powerful people is one of the major sources of conflict at the local level in Bangladesh. Political and administrative elites in many occasions capture land of ethnic people (for example, Santal community in Gaibandha district) in the plain land. In 2017 conflict was occurred between the minority Santal community and police concerning land disputes. The conflict has been sparked when the Santal minority people opted to protect their land from the government and land The Development Paradox 33 grabber. A source confirms that police proceeded to evict around 1,000 Santals families from their home. The local powerful people of the ruling political party supported the police and wanted to oust the Santal people from the land (Sakib, 2017). Police and powerful local people sat fires in the houses of the minority people. When the minority people came forward to protect their land and became violent, police fired that killed at least four people and more than 200 injured (Ibid). The land captured by the powerful people and political elites has resulted in a violent conflict, gross human rights violation and burning the houses of the Santal people. In summary, it can be said that people depended on the land and resources are much concerned about their existence and livelihood options. Although, government and multinational corporations confirm that they have launched the project following the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and allocating enough funds for the rehabilitation and livelihood options. Surprisingly, the case study shows that government hardly want to know about the displaced people once the project is implemented. Moreover, people do not like to receive cash. Rather, they rely on their existing land and resources.

Discussion and Analysis The paper aims to answer a question, ‘is resource scarcity a source of conflict and violence in Bangladesh’? To address the question, the cases have been presented to explore the relationship between the resource scarcity and the incidence of violence in Bangladesh. The above cases explore an understanding about the resource scarcity, population pressure and the question of the livelihood. In Bangladesh, land, forest, crops and water sources are the major issues of all conflicts and violence. From the cases, the key findings are as follow: Population Pressure and High Density Population pressure and high density are one of the leading causes of mounting pressure on the resources and environment. People are heavily depended on the environmental resources, like land, waters and forest resources. With the increasing population in Bangladesh, resources are being scarce, and people are keenly competing for controlling the resources. As a result, proposed plans undertaken either by the government or by the multinational corporation have increased the fear and anxiety of losing of the scare resources. According to the population census report of Bangladesh in 2011 the population density of the conflict areas as follows: 34 Islam and Alam

Table 2: Population density of the conflict areas in Bangladesh

Conflict area District Population density (per square kilometre) Phulbari coal mine conflict Dinajpur 864 Arealbill project Munshigaunj 1487 Rupgang housing project Narayangaunj 6139 Banshkhali power plant Chattogram (Chittagong) 1421 Rampal power plant Bagherhat 359 Tourism project in the CHT Rangamati, Khagrachari and 120 (average density) Bandarban Source: Bangladesh population census report, 2011. To the population census report 2011, population density per square kilometre is 964. In the conflict infested areas, a big size of the population is living who have already put tremendous pressure on the existing resources. Due to the increasing population, an imbalance between the population and resources has been generated, which is one of the leading causes of conflict ( Baechler, 1998). Fear of Losing Livelihood and Land The literature on environment and conflict relations provides an important insight of how tension on livelihood and human security influence people to engage in conflict and violence (Deligiannis, 2012; Longley & Maxwell, 2003; Malley, Taeb, Matsumoto, & Takeya, 2008). From the case studies mentioned above, it is seen that livelihood and the fear of losing their last piece of land have made them furious against the company and government in different project locations. In Bangladesh, people have a close attachment to the land and depend on land for their daily livelihood. In all projects mentioned above, local people were highly anxious for losing their land, livelihood and dwelling places. Ethnic minority people are more concerned about their land and they waged into conflict with the government and companies as the protest. Minority people are historically attached to land and forest resources. All the projects mentioned in the case studies directly affect the land and resources of the minority communities. Local people attached to land and resources do not like to abandon their profession. Despite the government and companies promise such as rehabilitation and alternative livelihood option, minority people hardly eager to lose their existing one. During the conflict in the Phulbari coal mine conflict, people uttered that The Development Paradox 35

We will give our lives, but we will not leave this place. We will not allow the mine to happen. The government can take as many dead bodies as they want, we will notleave the village. Villager threatened with forced eviction in Phulbari (International accountability project, 2017). Indeed, the landis considered as the lifebloodof the people who are living in the rural areas in Bangladesh. As an agrarian based economy, people would never lose their land even starving. Resource Capture and Marginalisation According to environmental conflict theory, people fight when their resources are captured by powerful elites and influential people, and they are likely to become environmentally marginalised (Homer-Dixon, 1999). The case studies show that government, national and international companies have engagedin capturing resources of the marginal people, such as farmers and minority communities. In the tourism project in the CHT, the Army as an institution is involved in boosting their business capturing land of the ethnic minority people. It is also alleged that the Army has been proceeded to capture land in the plain land to expand their housing projects. In this process, both state and Army have used their power for capturing or acquiring land from the general people. People might not have been willing to sell their property either to the government and Army. However, fear of losing property, persuasion, pressure from the middle man forced them to sell their property. From the conflict cases, it is observed that ethnically minority people are the worst victim of land accusation and land captured either by the government or by the powerful people. In the case of Phulbari coal mine, Paula Palmer, the Global Response Director for Cultural Survival said that:

The project threatens some of Bangladesh‟s most vulnerable indigenous peoples, who trace their ancestry in the region back 5,000 years. To them, the mine means ethnocide (International accountability project, 2017). The Sanatal community in Gaibandha district is equally deprived of land rights and livelihood options. The state machinery (for example, police) and ruling political elites have already had a nasty ally of capturing land from powerless minority people. A report published by Dhaka Tribune has alleged that ruling Awami League leaders in the Rampal project area have illegally captured land for the personal benefit. Some leaders have forcefully evicted farmers from their land by nominal money. The report categorically mentions that “around two-thirds of the 555-hectare land acquired by 36 Islam and Alam the government from the locals for a controversial coal-fired power plant at Rampal has apparently been handed over to local leaders and ruling party to make money” (Durjoy, 2017). Land capture or land grabbing is more prevalent in the CHT. Multi- stakeholders, such as Bengali settlers, companies, army and even the state are involved in land grabbing and sometimes by the name of development projects (Adnan, 2004; Adnan and Dastidar, 2011). The attachment of life and livelihood with the land of the ethnic minority people is ignored. The ethnic minority groups most likely fight for their land rights. In a number of occasions, law enforcing agencies have violated the human rights of the ethnic minority people in the CHT. Fear of Eviction and Displacement Fear of forced displacement and migration constitute a major cause of conflict and violence. The case studies posit that farmers, fisherman, day labourer and marginal people do not hesitate to fight against the government forces despite giving promise of compensation and resettlement. Evidence shows that people once evicted hardly received proper resettlement facilities and proper compensation (Cooper, 1992). In many cases, people do not receive due rehabilitation after their displacement and eviction. Maldonado (2012) argues that people displaced by the development projects have been a victim of marginalisation in many underdeveloped countries in Asia and Africa. Government is hardly able to resettle the displaced people in poor countries. There is no exception in Bangladesh. Displaced people from the Kaptai dam in the CHT are yet to be resettled in a due manner (Chakma, 2010; Parveen & Faisal, 2002). In most of cases, displaced people due to the development project come to urban centres, such as Dhaka and Chittagong and live in slums. People are well-known about the reality of losing their last piece of land. The role of the political elite is questionable as they most likely manipulate system and law and deprive poor people. In the case of the Bashkhali project, S. Alam group seemed to influence the process with the association of local politician and middle men deprived local people of their land rights. The case of the Gaibandha is also similar where local ruling party leaders arranged to set a fire in the house of the ethnically marginal people. Unholyalley between the Local and Foreign Company From the cases, a new dimension is seen that there has already formed an unholy alley between the domestic and foreigncorporations to set up development projects exploiting the national resources and local people. This has been possible due to the poor governance and rampant corruption in every sphere of the state mechanisms. Local companies are now engagedin setting up big projects with the help of foreign The Development Paradox 37 businesses that require land and resources. As land and other resources are extremely sacred, these companies impose force and illegal money to motivate local goons, police and civil bureaucrats to implement the projects at any cost. This unholy alley is seen in the Banshkhali and Phulbari project where domestic and foreign companies are equally responsible for the killing and human rights violation. Some companies including the foreign companies (for example, Niko and Chevron) have already rampantly destroyed natural resources in Bangladesh which is alternatively causing violence and conflict. Burning of gas fields and forest resources by the Chevron and Occidental companies show the example of how foreign companies have destroyed local resources and intensified the conflicts (Khan, 2010). This situation of resource plundering has been described as the result of the „resource curse‟ for some countries across the world, particularly in African and Middle-East countries (Collier, 2008; Collier & Hoeffler, 1998; Tsalik & Schiffrin, 2005). People of some (e,g, counties in African continent) countries having natural resources like oil and natural gas have experienced repression and human rights violation. In many cases, violent conflicts also followed for the controlling the resources (Muhammad, 2014). Dehumanisation of the Marginal Groups The case studies show that resource capture by the name of the development project goes against the interest, a way of life, belief, thinking, cultural speciality and the very existence of the people of the marginal group. This action by the powerful class on the other hand turns into the process of „dehumanisation‟ (Homer-Dixon, 2012). Homer-Dixon has identified the dehumanisation as the principal source of current conflicts in many places in the world, including Syria and Rwanda. In Bangladesh, the resource capture by the elites and Multinational Corporation by the name of the development is displacing the originality of the people, the way of life and the long existence. The burning of the Sanatal village and eviction of the tribal people from the Sajek for the tourism and development project dislocate the tribal people, deny the human rights of the people and push them to the border line of the extinction. These displaced groups find no other ways except engaging in conflict and violence for their existence in the original place of land. Top-level Corruption The case studies on development projects and conflict show the evidence of top-level corruption that enables companies to exploit local people and violate human rights. Resources are intimately connected with the poor people in Bangladesh. Surprisingly, government officials as well as the politicians hardly recognise how important the 38 Islam and Alam natural resources are for the poor and rural populations. In several occasions, corruption of the top-level people has destroyed the resources, source of living space and livelihood which have consequently generated violence and conflict. For example, the signing and giving contract to the foreign corporations did not follow the transparent procedures which happens frequently in Bangladesh to implement the medium and big size projects. This corrupt practice of top officials and politicians makes poor people to be victimized.

Conclusion The case studies and discussion on resource scarcity and conflict reveal that Bangladesh is one of the countries where people face conflict and violence for enjoying the environmental resources. Government and local and international companies are enthusiastic to construct development projects in order to enhancement economic development of the country. But the development initiatives are controversial too in different perspectives. Population pressure constitutes a major cause of the scarcity of resources. Some environmental resources such as land, forest, water and natural gas have been diminishing for the increasing population. The policy of the state is also responsible for the ongoing conflict and violence in the case of environmental resources. The open economic policy but fragile economic and financial regulations have given a wider scope to a few people and companies to explore and extract natural resources. In many instances, companies and stakeholders are mismanaging the resources as well as in some instances destroying it. The fact is that people are the owner, user and consumer of these resources, but they hardly nurture it for the future generation. In some instances, very few people get scope to determine the decision of what projects and for what purpose the projects would be set up in the country. The personal and sectional gains sometimes act to implement the big project that does not reflect the interest of the people. The inability to provide alternative livelihood option to the affected people play a major role to inspire general people against the big projects undertaken by the government and multinational corporations (MNCs). As an agrarian based country, people are depended on the resources. Thus, individually attached to the natural and environmental resources must be given their decision what to do and how they will lead their life. The open economic policy of imposition of the project on people and environment has been a major pitfall in many under-developed countries, which, in some instance has destroyed the community as a whole (e. g. Ok Tedi in Papua New Guinea). In The Development Paradox 39

Bangladesh, conflict between the minority community and government forces has already risen the question to the sensible people, a development first or the livelihood options first. The failure of the political system, bad decision, inability to identify the core issues of the poor people by the ruling class and theft mentality of the decision makers have resulted in violence and human rights violation in the context of land, forest and resources. Some section of people has captured resources, exploited the poor people, and plundered the resources of the country. This trend of theft of the national property has significantly increased in the practice of the neoliberal economy of Bangladesh. Under this system, an unholy alliance among the politicians, businessman and civil bureaucrats have been formed and increasingly exploiting the people by resource capture and plundering. The concept of majoritarian benefit or welfare economic structure is more or less absent to a greater extent in the country. The practice of rule of law has shown extremely poor in all section of governance. It has significantly increased in the financial sector, which is causing serious political turmoil and civilian dissatisfaction. Surprisingly, the topic of resource conflict and its management is grossly missing in the legal and academic level. Even, this issue is hardly discussed at the policy level. This is because of the people who are in the position to take leading role are somehow involved in resource capture and plundering. The conflict situation on environmental resources must be managed to enhance sustainable development as well as protecting the large segment of people who are poor, marginal and ethnic minority in nature. For this consideration, the government must take the policy to reduce the competition between livelihood groups over scarce resources.

Notes 1 The largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world, located in the south western part of Bangladesh. It lies on the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta at the point where it merges with the Bay of Bengal. (http://en.banglapedia.org/ index.php?title=Sundarbans, accessed July 2018)

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