History of the Struggle of CHT We, the indigenous people of Chittagong Hill Tracts with less than 1 million population mostly Buddhists, Hindus and Crhistians, live in a country Bangladesh with over 160 million Muslim majority population. We want autonomy or a Local Government that enables us to freely pursue our political, economic, social and cultural rights/development for preservation, protection and promotion of our distinct identity and culture within the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bangladesh. Bangladesh had outright denied autonomy to us. So we were forced to start an armed struggle against Bangladesh in1972-1973. Under mounting international pressure Bangladesh signed an agreement called the CHT Accord with our 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 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 Muslim 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 (parmenent camps not included) from CHT and demilitarization of the region. 3. The CHT voter list only with indigenous people and and non-indigenous permanent residents. 4. The Government (Dhaka) will not enact any law 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! Moreover, non-indigenous persons encouraged by invisible hands of Bangladesh have filled a case in court challenging the Accord. They, Bangladesh main opposition BNP and many invisible hands of Bangladesh want to scrap the Accord. Dhaka has 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 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 agenda for Bangladeshi demographic invasion in CHT or ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people. Solution to the impasse: dialogue is the only way for solution to all problems like this. But Bangladesh doesnt understand and respect the outcome of dialogue so far the CHT Accord implementation is concerned. Then a new armed struggle? Yes, as last resort. Is there any way in between no dialogue and armed struggle for solution to this impasse? I have no answer to it. Do you? Nikhil Chakma 25 July 2014
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 16:24:06 +0000
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