Speakers, including policymakers and government officials, on Monday emphasised the need to resolve land-related issues in the Chittagong Hill Tracts for the effective implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord, signed 27 years ago.聽
They made the observation at a seminar titled 鈥楾he Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord: Transforming Harmony into Prosperity鈥�, organised by the Ministry of CHT Affairs at the CHT Complex on Bailey Road in the city to commemorate the 27th anniversary of the signing of the accord.聽
They emphasised priorotising the need to resolve land-related issues, a critical concern for the hill people who primarily depend on land for their livelihoods, by activating the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission formed in 1999.聽
They also blamed ineffectiveness of the bodies formed under the CHT accord for delaying the full execution of the treaty, signed between the then Awami League government and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti on December 2, 1997 to restore peace and civic rights in the three hill districts-- Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari.
Addressing the event as chief guest, CHT affairs ministry adviser Supradip Chakma said that the bodies were not functioning effectively as corresponding laws and regulations required for their operation had not been formulated.
鈥楩ormulating corresponding laws and regulations [for the bodies] is crucial, and the CHT affairs ministry has been working on this issue,鈥� he said.
He further said that the ministry had been working on appointing chairperson to the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission and planned to discuss the appointment of three members to the CHT Accord Implementation and Monitoring Committee, as well as the formation of the advisory committee for the CHT affairs ministry with land adviser AF Hasan Arif.聽
Jahangirnagar University history department professor Mohammad Mozahidul Islam, who presented the keynote speech, said that although 65 out of 72 clauses of the accord were implemented by previous governments, the only obstacle that remained was the land issue.
The speakers said that the delay in the treaty鈥檚 execution was increasing uncertainty of the national minorities in the hill districts.
They also stressed incorporating the CHT issues into the interim government鈥檚 action plan.聽
CHT affairs ministry secretary AKM Shamimul Huq Siddique presided over the event, where Nilo Kumar Tanchangya, councillor of the CHT Regional Council and Sudatta Chakma, chairman of the Chittagong Hill Tribal Refugee Task Force also spoke, among others.
