Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord

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Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord
Chittagong Hill Tracts Treaty 1997
পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম শান্তি চুক্তি
TypePeace treaty
Signed2 December 1997
LocationPrime Minister's Office, Dhaka
MediatorsThe National Committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs
Negotiators
Original
signatories
CitationsChittagong Hill Tracts Treaty 1997
LanguagesEnglish, Bengali
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The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord (

insurgency between the Shanti Bahini and government forces.[1][2][3][4][5]

Background

The modern conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts began when the political representatives of the native peoples protested against the government policy of recognising only the

Bengalis. In talks with Hill Tracts delegation led by Chakma politician Manabendra Narayan Larma, the country's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman insisted that the ethnic groups of the Hill Tracts adopt the Bengali identity.[6][7] Sheikh Mujib is also reported to have threatened to settle Bengalis in the Hill Tracts to reduce the native peoples into a minority.[7][8]

Conflict

Main article:
Chittagong Hill Tracts Conflict

Consequently, Manabendra Narayan Larma and others founded the Parbatya Chhatagram Jana Shanghatti Samiti (PCJSS) as a united political organisation of all native peoples and tribes in 1973. The armed wing of the PCJSS, the

Bangladeshi Army, police and gangs of Bengali settlers were accused of perpetrating abuse of human rights and ethnic cleansing.[11][12]

Attempted solutions

Hossain Mohammad Ershad passed the District Council Act created three ties of local government councils to devolve powers and responsibilities to the representatives of the native peoples, but the councils were rejected and opposed by the PCJSS.[4]

Peace accord

Peace negotiations were initiated after the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh in 1991.[13] Fresh rounds of talks began in 1996 with the newly elected prime minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib.[13] The peace accord was finalized and formally signed on 2 December 1997.[5]

The agreement recognized the distinct ethnicity and special status of the tribes and indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and established a Regional Council consisting of the local government councils of the three districts of the Hill Tracts.

Murang and Tanchangya tribes; the delegates would be elected by the district councils of the Hill Tracts.[4] Elected for a five-year term, the council would have authority and responsibility to maintain law and order, social justice and tribal laws, oversee general administration, co-ordinate disaster relief and management, issue licenses for heavy industries and oversee other development projects.[4] The central government would be required to consult the regional councils over all issues concerning the Hill Tracts.[4]

The agreement also provided for the setting up of a central Ministry of Tribal Affairs to be headed by a person of tribal ethnicity to administer the affairs concerning the Hill Tracts.[4] The agreement also laid out plans for the return of land to displaced natives and an elaborate land survey to be held in the Hill Tracts.[4]

Assessment

After the treaty was signed, the PCJSS emerged as a mainstream political party. The Shanti Bahini insurgents formally laid down their arms and received monetary compensation.[2] More than 50,000 displaced tribals were able to return to their homes.[2][3][13] The treaty received a mixed response in Bangladesh. While praised by many who sought an end to violence and to forge peace and development, the accord was seen by others as compromising the territorial integrity of Bangladesh and the assertion that the Chittagong Hill Tracts were an inalienable part of the country.[1] The treaty was also criticised due to the secrecy surrounding the negotiations and allegations by the then-opposition party, the BNP, which claimed that the demands of the Bengali settlers were not accommodated in the agreement and that far too many concessions had been made.[1][2][4] However, the BNP promised to implement the accord after its election victory in 2001.

See also

References

  1. ^
    JSTOR 2645754
    .
  2. ^ a b c d "Bangladesh peace treaty signed". BBC News. 2 December 1997. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Chittagong marks peace anniversary". BBC News. 2 December 1998. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mohsin, Amena (2012). "Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, 1997". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  5. ^ a b Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Archived 8 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ISBN 81-261-1390-1
    .
  7. ^
    University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Archived from the original
    on 5 July 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  8. ^ Shelley, Mizanur Rahman (1992). The Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh: The untold story. Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh. p. 129.
  9. ^
    ISBN 81-261-1390-1
    .
  10. ^ Bangladeshi Insurgents Say India Is Supporting Them – New York Times
  11. ^ Kader, Rozina (2012). "Shanti Bahini". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  12. ^ Human rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts Archived 31 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine; February 2000; Amnesty International.
  13. ^ a b c Majumder, Shantanu (2012). "Parbatya Chattagram Jana-Samhati Samiti". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.

External links

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