History of Struggle of Chittagong Hill Tracts The indigenous people of Chittagong Hill Tracts with less than 1 million population mostly Buddhists, Hindus and Christians, live in a country, Bangladesh, with over 160 million Muslim majority population. They want autonomy or a Local Government that enables them to freely pursue their political, economic, social and cultural rights/development for preservation, protection and promotion of their distinct identity and culture within the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bangladesh. Bangladesh had outright denied autonomy to them. So they were forced to start an armed struggle against Bangladesh in 1972-1973. Under mounting international pressure Bangladesh signed an agreement called the CHT Accord with CHT indigenous leaders in 1997, and thus the conflict literally came to an end. India and some countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Germany, France, The UK, Japan, Australia, The US etc and international bodies, such as European Parliament and European Commission and international human rights organizations, such International Commission on CHT, Amnesty International, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), Survival International, International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) etc are believed to have played an important role, in a way or other, in the process of this Accord. The Accord provides limited autonomy within the framework of a Local Government consisting mainly of the following components: 1. A Ministry on CHT Affairs headed by a Deputy Minister from amongst the indigenous people in Bangladesh capital Dhaka; 2. A Regional Council consisting of indigenous people (predominantly) and non-indigenous permanent residents and headed by a Chairperson from amongst the indigenous people at the main township of CHT Rangamati; and 3. Three Hill District Councils consisting of indigenous people (predominantly) and non-indigenous permanent residents headed by Chairpersons from amongst the indigenous people at the three Hill District Headquarters of CHT. The mandate of the Local Government is to look after some local affairs, such as general administration and law & order, police (with indigenous people and non-indigenous permanent residents), land and land management, development, environment, tourism, primary and secondary education, traditional law and justice etc. The other salient features of the Accord are: 1. A Land Commission to resolve land-disputes between indigenous people and non-permanent residents (Bangladeshi settlers) arisen due to Bangladeshi demographic invasion and gross land grabbing by Bangladeshi settlers in CHT and to ensure the traditional land right of the indigenous people. 2. Rolling back of over 500 Bangladeshi temporary military and paramilitary camps (permanent camps not included) from CHT and demilitarization of the region. 3. The CHT voter list only with indigenous people and non-indigenous permanent residents. 4. The Government (Dhaka) will not enact any new law and/or amend existing laws on CHT affairs without any consultation with and consent of the Regional Council. Well, these are all in paper or what the Accord says. In practice, Dhaka has no yet implemented the Accord -- even after 17 years, till today! Moreover, some non-indigenous persons encouraged by invisible hands of Bangladesh have filled a case in court challenging the Accord. They, Bangladesh’s main opposition BNP and many invisible hands of Bangladesh want to scrap the Accord. Dhaka has formed but not empowered the CHT Local Government with its mandate. It is ruling CHT with a local administration manned by non-indigenous officers and backed by military and paramilitary still stationed in CHT -- not rolled back from the region as per the Accord. Police has not been formed with indigenous people and non-indigenous permanent residents. The voter list has not been prepared. The Land Commission formed has been left inactive. Dhaka has been enacting new laws or bringing about amendments in existing laws without any consultation with and consent of the Regional Council. Why all these??? Answer: Bangladesh’s policy of Bangladeshi demographic invasion or settlement of Bangladeshi settlers in CHT for ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people. It may be mentioned that the then Government of Bangladesh systematically transferred over 500,000 Bangladeshi settlers from various parts of Bangladesh into CHT and settled them in land occupied by and traditionally belonged to indigenous people in the 1980s under the direct military rule in the region. It displaced some 200,000 indigenous people internally and forced 73,000 indigenous people to flee CHT for India for shelter as refugees. They were repatriated to CHT following the said CHT Accord. The settlement of individual Bangladeshi settlers/families in the region continues unabated till today with support from Dhaka. The demographic policy of Bangladesh has already changed the demographic landscape and social fabric of the region dramatically. It may be mentioned that the non-indigenous people constituted less than 2%, about 6% and some 60% of the total population of CHT respectively in 1947, 1971 and 2011. The policy is in action even after the CHT Accord and the indigenous people are drowning and drowning in it as days are passing by. Dialogue is the only way for solution to all problems like the CHT one. The Government of Bangladesh and the indigenous leaders have been in dialogue over the last 17 years for implementation of the Accord. However, there has been no breakthrough so far. The Government of Bangladesh continues to non-comply with the key points of the Accord. Is there any way for a breakthrough in the impasse? We have no answer to this question. However, we know that this answer is crucial for sustainable peace, security and development and promotion and protection of human rights in CHT. Pic 1: CHT Accord being signed between Govt. of Bangladesh and leaders of indigenous people on 2 Dec 1997 in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Pic 2: A cartoon showing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas apathy with CHT Accord when CHT Regional Council Chairman Santu Larma requests her for its implementation.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 17:28:18 +0000