Political parties urged to play active role in implementing CHT Accord

CHT DESK

Almost 25 years after the signing of the CHT Peace Accord, the fundamentals of the agreement have not yet been implemented and the task of preserving and developing the Chittagong Hill Tracts as a region inhabited by indigenous remains incomplete.

‘The Chittagong Hill Tract Agreement Implementation Movement’ has called on the country’s political parties to play an active role in the implementation of the agreement of Chittagong Hill Tracts treaty.

Leaders of the movement made the call on Sunday in an open letter signed by two joint coordinators of the movement– human rights activist Zakir Hossain and Professor Khairul Islam Chowdhury of Dhaka University’s Department of Social Sciences.

After the establishment of the new independent Bangladesh, which was created with the contribution of all the ethnic groups of the country, during the drafting of the constitution in 1972, the identity of the indigenous tribes of the country, including the hilly Jumma people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, was denied and these rich indigenous tribes were kept out of their rights and state formation process, stated the open letter.

In such a reality, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Agreement was signed with the then government in 1997 at the end of more than two centuries of armed conflict, said the open letter, adding that the people of the country hoped that the state made a historical mistake by denying these indigenous peoples within the constitutional framework.

“We hope that the political leaders of the country will take necessary steps from their respective parties and positions to put pressure on the government and the concerned parties for the full and proper implementation of the ‘Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord’ which was signed in 1997 as a way to solve the Chittagong Hill Tracts problem in a peaceful and political way,” the letter said.

In the open letter stating that ‘the overall progress of Bangladesh is not possible keeping the hill problem alive’, all the political parties of the country are urged to play a role in the implementation of the seven points of the movement for the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Agreement.

The seven points demands are- speedy and proper implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tract Agreement by formulating a schedule-based action plan; a permanent end to military authoritativeness and indirect military rule in the hills; Regional council and the three hill district councils should be duly empowered in accordance with the hill Accord to ensure representative democratisation and local governance;ensuring land rights of internally displaced persons and returning Jumma refugees from India by implementing the Hill Land Dispute Settlement Commission for a permanent solution to the hill land problem; ensuring the participation of various ethnic groups of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in mainstream economic progress and sustainable development programs of the country; reservation of special seats for various ethnic groups of the plains in all levels of local government including Union Parishad and taking special measures to improve the quality of life of the people of different ethnic groups; to establish separate land commissions for different ethnic groups of the plains. 

To expedite the implementation, they put forth four demands: announce specific programmes in line with the seven-point demands raised by all democratic political parties in support of the CHT Accord Implementation Movement, seriously consider incorporating the seven-point demands of the CHT Peace Accord Implementation Movement into the party’s election manifesto for the 2024 national elections, appoint a spokesperson and an organisational secretary responsible for issues related to indigenous peoples within the political parties and their affiliates and provide party nominations to indigenous people at all levels of local government councils, including the national parliament.