No move yet to implement CHT deal
Speakers blame govt for following previous land laws
(From left) Regional Director Theofil Nokrek of Caritas-Mymensingh, Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira, State Minister for Cultural Affairs Advocate Pramod Mankin and Prof Mesbah Kamal at a discussion titled “Khas land for indigenous people and amendment of the Vested Property Act” jointly organised by Caritas-Mymensingh Region and Manusher Jonno Foundation at Jatiya Press Club in the city yesterday.Photo: STAR
No government order has been passed in 13 years to realise many terms of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Agreement signed in 1997, a discussion was told yesterday. Though the agreement nullifies many land related laws in the CHT region, local government authorities there are following previous laws because they did not receive any government order in the matter, the speakers said. The speakers demanded effective and sincere implementation of CHT Peace Agreement, changes in Vested Property Act and government intervention on the matter. The discussion titled “Khas land for indigenous people and amendment of the Vested Property Act” was jointly organised by Caritas-Mymensingh Region and Manusher Jonno Foundation at Jatiya Press Club in the city. Vested Property Act, namely Enemy Property Act before the War of Liberation, was enacted for the government to take over land left behind by Hindu citizens during the 1947 partition and the India-Pakistan war in 1965. The law still retains the fundamental ability to deprive a Bangladeshi citizen of his/her property simply by declaring them as enemies of the state. “As long as the Vested Property Act is not amended, Bangladesh will remain a non-secular state,” said Prof Mesbah Kamal, general secretary of National Coalition for Indigenous People. Even though debate on the rights of indigenous people is ongoing for many years, very little has been done, said Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation. Giving collective ownership of land to an indigenous community could be a solution to the existing land problems in the CHT region, said Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum. However, self-governed indigenous communities could also be a permanent solution to most of their problems, he added. Speaking as the chief guest, Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira assured of solving land related problems faced by indigenous people. State Minister for Cultural Affairs Advocate Pramod Mankin was present as the special guest while Zubaida Nasreen of anthropology department of Dhaka University and Hindu community leader Advocate Rana Das Gupta also spoke.
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