Rights activists, political leaders, among others, have iterated that a strong political will is a must for the complete implementation of the CHT Treaty, full implementation of which has yet to happen, although 27 years have passed since its signing.
At a discussion held in Dhaka city on Friday, they blamed the lack of goodwill in previous governments as they had failed to take initiatives to implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts peace accord, as the treaty is popularly known, in full.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Treaty was signed on December 2 in 1997 between the Bangladesh government and hill people鈥檚 political organisation Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti.
The event titled 鈥楻ecent situation in the CHT and actions required for proper implementation of the CHT Treaty鈥� was organised by Bangladesh Adivasi Forum at the Women鈥檚 Voluntary Association auditorium at Dhanmondi.
Addressing the discussion, Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince said that the non-implementation of the peace accord was a political crisis which needed to be solved politically.
The leftist leader asked where the barrier lay if the government decided to constitutionally recognise the national minority communities as indigenous or 鈥楢divasi鈥� communities.
Association for Land Reform and Development executive director Shamsul Huda emphasised that political parties should outline in their election manifestoes their plans for implementing the peace accord.
鈥榃e want to know what the political parties will do for the indigenous people after they assume power,鈥� said Shamsul Huda.
The interim government ratified several international treaties, said Shamsul, urging the government to ratify the ILO Convention 169 to ensure the rights of the national minorities.
The political parties and military and civil bureaucracy had consensus among them to seize the rights of the indigenous people or also they had a lack of interest in recognising their rights in Bangladesh, said Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman.聽
It was easy to violate the rights of the indigenous people without consequences if the powerful quarter could establish the narrative that there was no indigenous community in the country, added Iftekharuzzaman.
Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti vice-president Ushatan Talukder said that the accord was signed with the consent of the military and its implementation would also require their consent.
鈥楾he delay is increasing the complexity in implementing the accord,鈥� he said.
Bangladesh Adivasi Forum general secretary Sanjeeb Drong remarked that despite all odds, the full implementation of the treaty was still possible.
Forum vice-president Ajay A Mree, assistant general secretary Gajendra Nath Mahato and CHT Accord Implementation Movement joint coordinator Khairul Islam Chowdhury, among others, spoke at the event with rights activist Satej Chakma presenting the keynote essay.聽