Laws to be changed for full execution of CHT peace accord

The government will amend Chittagong Hill Tracts related laws that are inconsistent with the CHT peace accord of 1997 to harmonise those with the treaty, said Gowher Rizvi, the international affairs adviser to the prime minister.

To this effect, 12 CHT specific laws and 26 related laws need to be amended, he said at the opening session of a workshop on "Towards Harmonization of CHT Laws," organised by the CHT affairs ministry and UNDP in the capital yesterday.

The laws must be amended in such a way so that the accord can be implemented fully, said Gower Rizvi, adding that a good progress has been made regarding amendments to the CHT land commission law.

He also assured Bangalees of CHT region that the lives and properties of the Bangalee will not be affected if the accord is implemented fully.

In his keynote speech, Goutam Kumar Chakma, a local government adviser of UNDP, said now the CHT region is governed by three categories of laws--laws those are enacted or amended following the provisions of the CHT accord, CHT specific laws made to rule CHT since the British era and other CHT related laws.

Bir Bahadur U Shwe Sing, state minister for CHT affairs, and Pauline Tamesis, country director of UNDP, Bangladesh, also spoke at the event.