Not so happy mood in hills
The government will have to take full responsibility if any untoward situation arises in the hill tracts due to the government's "passive attitude towards implementing the CHT [peace] accord", Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma alias Santu Larma has warned.
"Jumma people [the indigenous living in CHT] are determined and care little for self-sacrifice in defence of their national entities and territories. The ruling class will stay responsible singularly for any undesirable situation that might crop up."
Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) President Santu Larma, also chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Regional Council, was speaking at a press conference at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday on the eve of the 18th anniversary of signing the CHT Peace accord.
"The Government keeps on claiming that 48 out of 72 provisions of the CHT Accord have been implemented. But as a matter of fact the ground reality bears out that only 25 provisions of the CHT Accord were implemented as of now ... That means, only one third of the CHT Peace Accord has been implemented in last 18 years," he said in a written statement.
"In fact, the implementation process of the CHT Accord is totally stalled [now]."
The government and the PCJSS signed the peace accord on December 2, 1997. The peace accord ended two decades-long bush war in the hills.
Santu Larma criticised the government for not yet realising "the core issues of the Accord relating to political and constitutional, economic and land rights, withdrawal of all temporary military camps including de facto military rule 'Operation Uttoron' and rehabilitation."
He also alleged that conspiracies were on to turn the CHT into a Muslim-dominated region, instead of preserving its Jumma-inhabited character.
"The Jumma peoples are under compulsion to lead a life in insecurity and uncertainty due to communal attacks, eviction, killings, rape, killing after rape, abduction, political harassment, persecution, military search and operation, infiltration of outsiders etc."
Through signing the peace accord, "the Jumma people have re-asserted their willingness to live in the country as citizens with their own identity and uniqueness," he continued.
Terming "the CHT crisis" is both a national and political problem, Santu Larma urged the government to fully realise the peace agreement.
"The PCJSS expects that the government as well as the ruling class would demonstrate political wisdom in comprehending rightfully the reality of CHT," he said, adding that his regional political party would announce a new programme from a rally in Rangmati on December 2.
Santu Larma demanded that the government announce a roadmap to implementation of the peace accord and act promptly to remove temporary military camps, resolve land disputes, rehabilitate refugees, and rehabilitate Bengali-speaking settlers outside of the CHT.
PCJSS Publication Secretary Mangal Kumar Chakma moderated the programme attended by, among others, Gano Oikya Nap President Pankaj Bhattachariya, Secretary General of Bangladesh Forum for Indigenous Peoples Sanjeeb Drong and Dhaka University Prof Mesbah Kamal, a researcher on Indigenous issues.
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