Twenty-five years ago today, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord was signed between the government and Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, bringing an end to armed conflict in the region and ushering in what many considered to be a new chapter in the history of the country. The Accord was a milestone in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s first term at the helm of the nation, exemplifying the government’s intention to steer the country towards fairer winds and generating confidence in the newly elected PM’s ability to do so.
However, a quarter of a century since the Accord, we are pained to find that its implementation remains fundamentally incomplete. Of course, certain steps have been taken. Laws have been enacted in accordance with the CHT treaty, leading to the establishment of the CHT Regional Council, the reconstitution of Hill district councils, and crucially, to the formation of the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission. In 2016, an amendment to the Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act of 2001 finally recognised the customary rights of the Indigenous Jummas and confirmed that land disputes in the hills would be resolved “in consonance with the law, custom and practice in force in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.”
Unfortunately, a lot of the reforms so far, while they are steps in the right direction, have stopped short of dealing with the fundamental issue of land, and failed to put…
