Implementing CHT Peace Accord: Govt must play a proactive role

Speakers at an online discussion yesterday said the government has to play its proactive role to fully implement the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) Accord and resolve peoples' problems there.

They said key clauses of the accord, also known as CHT peace accord, were either implemented partially or remained unimplemented despite the Awami League government, which singed it in 1997, being in power for most part of the time since the signing.

CHT Commission, CHT Citizens' Committee, and Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) jointly organised the discussion on "Twenty-three Years of Hill Tracts Accord: Present Situation in Chattogram Hill Tracts".

Singing of the accord between the government and regional political party Parbatya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samiti brought an end to a nearly two-decade long armed conflict in the region.

Goutam Dewan, convener of CHT Citizens' Committee, said at present the region's problems have been "seen and evaluated" from a security perspective.

It should be understood that CHT region's problems were addressed politically, and initiative was also taken from the government to resolve those, he said.

"If we have to resolve it, political leadership has to do it," he added.

He said the CHT Regional Council was established for "special governance" in the region but the council has not been empowered fully.

Also, it was promised that "special governance" will be ensured through combined functioning of the regional council and CHT district councils, said Goutam.

However, rules for election and voter lists for the district councils have not been finalised in nearly two decades, he said.

He added although some key changes in the CHT Land Commission Law were made in 2016, a set of rules was yet to be formulated.

The land commission will not be functional properly without the rules, he further said.

The region was historically a hub for communal harmony but crisis was created artificially after creating settlements through bringing people from outside, said Chakma Circle Chief Raja Devasish Roy.

Although building establishments within the periphery of reserve forests is prohibited, the law has not been followed accordingly, he said.

Presiding over the discussion, CHT Commission Co-chair Sultana Kamal said full implementation of the CHT accord is a prerequisite to bring change in peoples' lives in the region.

She said the prime minister has assured them time and again that she is committed both politically and ethically to fully implement the accord.

ALRD Executive Director Shamsul Huda said despite the accord's promises that the region will be an ethnic people-dominated area, now all arrangements have been taken to erase their presence from there.

The latest of this is ousting of Mro community people in the name of building a luxury hotel, he said.

It is a pity that demand for the accord's implementation has to be raised even 23 years after its signing, said CHT Commission Member Bina D'costa, while presenting a concept paper.

Nijera Kori Coordinator Khushi Kabir moderated the discussion, while Meghna Guhathakurta, executive director of Research Initiatives, Bangladesh, also spoke.