Editorial
Ending violence in CHT
Expedite implementation of peace accord
The series of violent incidents that took place this month alone in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is a disturbing pointer to a brewing storm in the region.
Monday's observation by Santu Larma, leader of the Parbattya Chatttagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS), that situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region may go out of control within the next five to six months does only lends credence to the above view.
Clearly, behind all these random cases of violence is a simmering resentment among the different tribal communities in the CHT. The root cause of this resentment, as pointed by the PCJSS leader Santu Larma, lies in the tardy progress in the implementation of the CHT peace accord.
We in this paper have been consistently stressing an early settlement of CHT problem emanating from land right and settlement-related disputes through implementation of the CHT peace accord. Pivotal to the issues of land rights and settlement are the disputes between the Bengali settlers on the one side and all the hill tribes on the other. Then there is also the clash of interests among the different hill tribes that needs addressing through a dialogue among all the parties.
It is reassuring that at the last meeting of the CHT peace accord implementation committee, a draft bill could be finalised for amending the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act 2001. The amended Act, it is hoped, will add some momentum to the land settlement work.
Another aspect of the land settlement issue is strengthening of the understaffed and ill-equipped Land Commission, whose mandate is yet to be clearly defined keeping an eye to the demographic characteristics of CHT. To this end, land survey would be necessary for documentation of the land occupation pattern in the CHT region. The government should resolve this issue by involving all the parties concerned in the CHT--the leaders of the hill tribes, the regional council and the land commission.
The Awami League is credited with having signed the peace accord which ended decades-long insurgency in the region. But if it not implemented fully then its purpose is not served.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments