Chittagong Hill Tracts: Promises Unfulfilled
Twenty years since the pledge to return the lands belonging to the Hill people was made, the problem of land deprivation has still not been properly addressed. The people of Chittagong Hill Tracts continue to demand the realization of the promises made.
Below is an article published by Prothom-Alo:
Visiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Ministry, the Prime Minister once against pledged to ensure land rights for the hill people. This pledge was made in 1997 when the CHT accord was signed under her government. Unfortunately this has never translated into reality.
The land commission, which is supposed to address the land deprivation problem of the hill people, is itself dysfunctional. As a result, the hill people are losing hold over their land and their settlements.
In 2009 a retired judge was appointed Chairman of the Land Commission. It is alleged that instead of resolving conflicts over land, he simply intensified the problem. The government has recently appointed a new chairman, but the laws and institutions required to render the commission effective, are absent. The commission has inadequate funds and personnel. Rather than protecting the rights of the hill people, such institutions will be used by the land grabbers in their own interests.
The Prime Minister claims that 48 of the 72 points in the CHT accord have been implemented. However, the fact that the hill people have not regained the lands, that Bengali persons and organisations are grabbing the land, paints quite a different picture.
The CHT District Council still has not been given the responsibility of land administration and police administration. The district councils are being run by persons nominated by the government. The accord had clear directives for an amendment of the voters list for elections to the regional councils, but no government has taken any effective measures to implement this. The fate of CHT still lies in the hands of the bureaucracy and the politico-business clique. The aspirations which the peace accord had given to the hill people remain unfulfilled.
Until the land rights of the hill people are established, permanent peace in CHT will remain a far cry. The Land Commission must be made effective immediately and the CHT peace accord must be implemented in entirety.
The people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts want to see a fulfilment of the Prime Minister's pledge.
