CHT Peace Accord:
Say indigenous leaders, rights activists
08 December 2013
Although the Awami League’s electoral pledge was to fully implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord, it has done nothing but making empty promises one after another in the last five years of its rule, indigenous leaders and rights activists said yesterday.
This government’s only visible attempts in this regard were limited to holding five meetings of the CHT Accord Implementation Committee, they told a human chain in front of the capital’s Jatiya Press Club under the banner of Nagorik Samaj.
Meanwhile, due to lack of effective steps to withdraw the more than 300 “temporary military camps” from the region, military dominance continues as before, they said.
“We cannot but feel more worried, as the election draws closer. We’re uncertain what policy the new government will adopt about implementation of the accord,” said rights activist Sultana Kamal.
No matter which party comes to power or whatever situation the country is in, the demand for defending the rights of such a large population must be more vociferous, she added.
“The indigenous people have been deprived of basic human rights for many years. Implementing the peace accord will be the first step towards protecting their rights.”
At a discussion at Dhaka Reporters Unity following the human chain, speakers urged all political parties to prioritise the issue of the accord’s implementation in the next parliamentary election.
“If the state’s attitude towards the indigenous peoples of the hills remains unchanged for long, they will be wiped out from their native land in near future,” said Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum.
Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), an organisation of indigenous communities of the CHT, signed the accord with the then AL-led government on December 2, 1997.
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