Ajijul Haque
Ajijul Haque is District Human Rights Monitor for Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), a non-governmental human rights organisation based in Howrah, Kolkata, West Bengal. MASUM works on a variety of issues, including combating illegal evictions, enforced migration, trafficking of persons and impunity for acts of torture. Recently, MASUM has been working to protect the rights of inhabitants of the disputed 'enclaves' of land on the border between India and Bangladesh in the context of a recent agreement between the two nations, whereby India and Bangladesh will relinquish their claim to enclaves within the other state's territory. Over 50,000 people live in the disputed enclaves, and may be forced to move as a result of the agreement.
Police officials are often the perpetrators of violence against HRDs, usually with impunity. While human rights bodies exist both at the national and at the state levels, human rights defenders expressed strong criticism at their work and effectiveness. Investigations carried out by the National Human Rights Commission and the State Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs) are often either inadequate or extremely delayed.
