Dear friends,
We should share the PCJSS Press Statement on the 13th Anniversary of the CHT Accord (below) with you for your kind information and necessary action, if any. PCG has translated the original text in Bengali into English.
With regards,
Karunalankar Bhikkhu
President
* * *
Peace Campaign Group (PCG)
RZ-I-91/211, West Sagarpur, New Delhi-110046, India
Tel: + 91-11-2 539 8383
Telefax: + 91-11-2 539 4277
E-mail: pcgoffice@yahoo.co.in, pcgonline@gmail.com
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PCJSS Press Statement on the 13th Anniversary of the CHT Accord
29 November 2010, Dhaka
Dear media friends,
I, on behalf of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), would like to extend my warm greetings and best wishes to you all on the eve of the 13th Anniversary of the CHT Accord!
You are well aware that the CHT Accord signed between the government of Bangladesh and PCJSS on 2 December 1997 for a peaceful political solution to the CHT conflict is about complete its 13th year.
It is about two years to pass by since the assumption of the office by the coalition government of Bangladesh led by Awami League. In its Elections Manifesto published before the 2008 general elections of the country, Awami League 'committed' to the 'full implementation' of the Accord, if it were voted to power. The coalition assumed the office on 6 January 2009 following its landslide victory in the elections held on 29 December 2008. So far, the government has taken several steps for implementation of the Accord. Some of these notable steps include, among others, appointment of a State Minister from amongst the indigenous people to the post of the Minister of the Ministry on CHT Affairs; reconstitution of the Task Force for rehabilitation of international Jumma refugees and internally displaced Jumma people; appointment of a Member of Parliament elected from the Khagrachari Constituency of CHT to the post of the Chairman of the Force; filling
up of the post of the Chairman of the Land Commission for resolving land-disputes existing between indigenous people and non-indigenous (Bengali) settlers; filling of the post of the Convener of the CHT Accord Implementation Committee, filling of the post of the Chairman of the CHT Development Board with a Member of Parliament elected from amongst the indigenous people; and withdrawal of the 35 military camps including a brigade from CHT. However, it is a matter of grave concern that the government has not taken any effective steps to implement the Accord in the past two years, apart from the steps mentioned above. The CHT Accord Implementation Committee has been ineffective so far due mainly to the lack of political will of the government to implement the Accord. As a result, the following problems have been developed and developing:
1. The government has taken no effective steps to preserve the 'indigenous people-dominated character' of CHT, as stated in the Accord. Rather, the government has kept enforcing the traditional state policy of national integration ('islamization') in CHT by alienating indigenous people from their land for settlement of non-indigenous settlers through communal attacks, illegal land acquisition, unilateral implementation of so-called 'development projects' etc. In order to make its way, the government has deliberately refrained itself from empowering the CHT local government—the CHT Regional Council and the three Hill District Councils—according to their mandate and powers and functions. As a result, the CHT local government has been virtually forced to remain non-functional.
2. Some key subjects mentioned in the Accord, such as general administration, coordination and supervision of law and order, land and land management, police (local), environment and forest, and higher secondary education, have not been delegated to the Hill District Councils till date. On the other hand, the government has, for its political expediency, kept forming these Councils with its own party members rather than holding elections of these Councils and forming them with the elected members. Such action of the government is undemocratic. It contravenes the CHT Accord and blocks its implementation process.
3. The government has taken no effective actions for implementation of the Regional Council Acts. The proposed Rules of Business of the Council and the fixation of the Allowances of the Chairman and members of the Council, and works, such as land acquisition, fund allocation, appointment of manpower and infrastructure building for the Council Complex are still pending. The Hill District Councils, Municipalities, three Deputy Commissioners and Police Supers of the Hill District Councils, CHT Development Board and the concerned authorities at the district and thana level are working in their own style without respecting the Regional Council due to the absence of properly defined rules and guidelines on the authority of the Council. As a result, administrative complexities and in-cohesiveness are increasing in CHT day by day leaving the Council without any say in the region's affairs.
4. No time-frame has been fixed yet for withdrawal of the rest of the military camps from CHT. 'Operation Uttoran', a sort of de facto military rule, has not been lifted from CHT till today.
5. The provisions of the Land Commission Acts 2001 inconstant with the corresponding provisions of the CHT Accord have not been amended till date. Rather, the government has taken unilateral initiatives to settle land-disputes in favor of non-indigenous settlers without any consent of and consultation with the Chairman of the Commission, the final authority to say on this issue. Above all, the government has unilaterally started surveying land in CHT without any consultation with the concerned authorities. It has added a new dimension to the existing problem of land-disputes.
6. The government shows in records that the lease of 50,000 acre land with 2000 plots given to non-indigenous and non-permanent residents has been cancelled. But in practice, no lease-holders have vacated their land. Rather, new land is being leased and exiting parks are being expanded. Indigenous people are being evicted from their land with threat and intimidation, and in some cases, with communal attacks if and when required. On the other hand, the lease-holders have applied for revalidation of their leases, and most of them have got their work done through illegal and irregular means.
7. 9,780 Jumma refugee families out of 12,222 repatriated from India under a 20-Point Package Agreement have not yet got back their land. No action for return of their land has been taken so far.
8. The Task Force for rehabilitation of internally displaced Jummas held its two meetings so far since its reconstitution. But no action has been taken to rehabilitate them so far. On the other hand, non-indigenous settlers are being identified as 'internally displaced persons' and rehabilitated in the land of indigenous people. The process of rehabilitation of internally displaced Jummas remains stalled.
9. The Office Order dated 21 December 2001 issued from the Ministry on CHT Affairs authorizing the Deputy Commissioners of the three Hill Districts to issue 'Permanent Resident Certificate' has not been revoked till today. According to the CHT Accord, only the three Indigenous Chiefs of the three Hill Districts can exercise such power. The Deputy Commissioner posts are held by non-indigenous persons appointed by the government. The Deputy Commissioners are misusing their power by issuing such certificate to non-indigenous settlers.
10. The electoral rolls with permanent residents of CHT have not been made as per the CHT Accord. The electoral rolls made after the Accord with all permanent and non-permanent residents of CHT, including non-indigenous settlers and Rohingia Burmese refugees, are still in force.
11. The government has taken no initiatives to fill up all government posts in CHT with permanent residents of the region on priority basis, as agreed in the Accord.
12. Advised and directed by the government the Ministry on CHT Affairs headed by an indigenous MP from CHT has continued to act against the CHT Accord implementation process (against the interest of the indigenous people and non-indigenous permanent residents) and for the exclusive interest of non-indigenous settlers in CHT.
13. The government has continued to support illegal infiltration of non-indigenous people into CHT and illegal land encroachment and settlement by them in the region.
14. The government has taken no effective actions to ban so-called United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) and their terror activities. Rather, it is using the outfit as its strategic ally to intimidate and suppress PCJSS and obstruct the CHT Accord implementation process.
Dear media friends,
No fundamental change or progress has been made in the overall situation in CHT. The military continues to remain the supreme authority in the region, as they did in pre-Accord CHT. The state remains to be a repressive tool to the indigenous people. Military search operations, harassment, threat and intimidation and repression in every village in CHT are continuing like earlier. Non-indigenous settlers and their extremist organization the so-called 'Somo Adhikar Andolon' are continuing communal attacks, arsons, rape, and illegal land occupation in CHT with active support from the military.
On the other hand, the anti-Accord faction, UPDF has continued its armed terrorist activities, such as illegal toll collection, kidnapping for ransom, killing of innocent people and PCJSS leaders and obstruction of the CHT Accord implementation process with the support from the military. UPDF has, it may be mentioned, killed 65 PCJSS leaders and cadres and more than 100 innocent Jummas since its formation in 1998. The government machineries, army in particular, are misusing UPDF to sabotage the CHT Accord implementation process on one hand, and working deliberately with reactionary and opportunist and vested interest groups as part of its classic 'Divide and Rule Policy' to create division and dissention in the PCJSS leadership and in the Jumma people at large, on the other.
Also, the government has been creating communal division and tension between indigenous people and non-indigenous permanent residents to make its way in CHT. People of the both communities are systematically being subjected to economic discrimination and exclusion. The CHT people are being deprived of their democratic right to franchise and election of their representatives to the local government, on one hand, the local government is being Awami Leagued with the appointment of Awami League party members and persons from opportunist vested interest groups. Some of the major concerns developed during the rule of this government include, among others, lack of political will and commitment to implement the CHT Accord, obstruction of the Regional Council and three Hill District Councils to function as per their powers and functions, unilateral initiative of land survey, so-called 'social afforestation', imposition of Rangamati Science and Technology
University and Ghagra Medical College projects on the Jumma people, establishment of so-called Strategic Management Forum, illegal land encroachment and settlement of non-indigenous settlers, and violent communal attacks on indigenous people.
Dear media friends,
You are aware that on 12-13 April 2010 the High Court gave its ruling on the petitions respectively filed by Badiujjaman in 2000 and Advocate Tazul Islam in 2007 against the CHT Accord. In this ruling, the CHT Regional Council Acts and some vital provisions of the three Hill District Councils Acts were declared 'illegal' and 'anti-constitution'. The Honorable Supreme Court has, of course, instructed the government to keep the ruling in abeyance till a regular appeal is filed against the ruling.
Constitutional experts described the ruling of the High Court as 'improper' and 'invalid'. The 'special and distinct character and administrative background' of CHT were not taken into consideration in this ruling, they think. The CHT Accord was signed with a sole objective of upholding the political, economic, social, and cultural rights of the people of CHT and of accelerating their socio-economic development. It pledges its full allegiance to the integrity and sovereignty of the country. It is not correct to say that the Accord violates, as the ruling says, the 'unitary character of the state'. The CHT local government cannot be compared and equated to a provincial government of a federal state. The powers and functions of the local government have been entrusted under the Article 59 and 60 of the Constitution of Bangladesh.
No provisions of the Accord contradict the Articles 27, 29 and 42 of the Constitution of the country which speak of equality and equal facilities for all citizens and of the right to property. The complaint mentioned in the ruling regarding alleged violation of the Article 36 of the Constitution concerning 'freedom of movement' is also unfounded. In fact, the Accord does not restrict any citizen's 'right to freedom of movement'; it simply bars on land-ownership by non-indigenous people in CHT and ensures the land-ownership of the indigenous people, as stated in the Accord and in the 1900 CHT Regulation. It does not in any way go against the Article 36 of the Constitution which states: freedom of movement is subject rules made from time to time in the public interest. Besides, the Articles 28 (4) and 29 (3) empower the state to make any rules for uplifting backward class of the country's population.
Dear media friends,
You must be aware that the government has taken initiatives to amend the Constitution in view of the Supreme Court verdict on the 5th Amendments of the Constitution. The verdict, it may be mentioned, declares the Amendments as 'anti-constitutional' and 'illegal'. The initiatives have created a window of opportunity for amendments of the Constitution for constitutional recognition of the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh. In this backdrop, on 26 October 2010, PCJSS had sent a memorandum to the Special Parliamentary Committee of the Government on Constitutional Amendments demanding constitutional recognition of the indigenous peoples of CHT including some other matters.
It goes without saying that the constitution does not recognize the political (autonomy), economic, social, cultural and land rights of the indigenous peoples of CHT and others part of the country although they had actively participated in the movement against the colonial rulers for the liberation of Bangladesh.
After turning down the demand for constitutional recognition of the Jumma indigenous people placed by great Jumma leader Late M. N. Larma to then architects of the constitution in 1972, it is the second time and opportunity that the Jumma leadership placed a similar demand to the government of Bangladesh for consideration.
Dear media friends,
There is, indeed, no alternative to the implementation of the CHT Accord for a political solution to the long standing CHT conflict and for durable peace in the region. After formation of the government, the Prime Minister committed to implement the Accord in letter and spirit (The Prothom Alo, 30 April 2009). Recently she reiterated the same and said, "We can't shatter the trust of those (PCJSS) who laid down arms and signed the Accord (in good faith)" (The Prothom Alo, 22 October 2010). Although the government including the Prime Minister and various high level government officials have been talking about their commitment to implement the Accord in public, but their words basically remain buried in paper so far. Despite demand of the people of CHT and various civil society organizations for a time-bound implementation of the Accord, the government has taken no steps in this regard. Rather, the government has adopted a delay-dilly tactic in this
matter, like the previous governments.
In these circumstances, PCJSS calls upon the Honorable Prime Minister to take the following steps for implementation of the Accord and restoration of democracy and good governance in the CHT without any further delay:
1. To make and declare a time-bound action plan for proper implementation of the CHT Accord;
2. To make the CHT Regional Council Acts and the three Hill District Council Acts functional;
3. To amend the controversial Land Commission Acts 2001 and settle land-disputes in terms of the CHT Accord and the recommendations of the CHT Regional Council;
4. To withdraw the de facto military rule, 'Operation Uttoran' and all military and paramilitary camps from CHT;
5. To provide proper rehabilitation of international Jumma refugees repatriated, internally displaced Jumma people and PCJSS members who returned to over-ground life after the Accord;
6. To ensure constitutional safeguards recognizing the political, economic, social, cultural and land rights of the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh, including the CHT Accord and all Acts with necessary amendments, if any, passed on it;
7. To push, with utmost priority, the appeal made to the Appeal Division of the Supreme Court, challenging the ruling of the High Court on the CHT Accord, as noted above, and ensure the nullification of the same through legal way;
8. To declare the anti-Accord UPDF as a banned terrorist organization and take effective measures to stop all types of its terrorist activities; and
9. To take necessary steps, including making necessary rules, for early elections of the Hill District Councils and the CHT Regional Council and make electoral rolls with only permanent residents of CHT and rules thereof to this effect.
PCJSS has taken steps to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the CHT Accord on 2 December 2010 at 10 a.m. at the headquarters of every Hill District and Upazilla and also at Diploma Engineering Institute Auditorium, Dhaka. A one day-long program with public rally and speech demanding proper and time-bound implementation of the CHT Accord has been organized there.
I, on behalf of PCJSS, cordially invite you to make it convenient to attend the said program.
Please accept my sincere thanks for coming here in this press conference.
Sd./
Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma
President
Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti
Chittagong Hill Tracts
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