People in the CHT will henceforth have access to the judicial system, as the government has decided to set up criminal courts in three districts in the region within the next 10 days. It is indeed not justifiable that no such courts could be instituted in the districts even in 36 years, which left the hills people out of the purview of the judiciary -- a strange yet stark truth of their lives.
The hills people were on their own to settle cases through arbitration by the village headmen -- a primitive way of dispensation of justice. It amounted to a clear denial of their legal rights as citizens of Bangladesh. The High Court ruling directing the government to set up civil and criminal courts in the CHT under the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation (Amendment) 2003 will fulfill a long-standing demand of the local people. It will make their task of seeking justice much easier as people from the remotest corners of the CHT will no longer have to travel to Chittagong to attend courts, which in some cases was both energy and time consuming.
It has been reported that the deputy commissioners and the divisional commissioner will continue to address civil matters until civil courts are set up after amending the existing laws. They will continue to discharge such duties until complete arrangements are in place as per the HC directive. The process of instituting new courts should not take much time as the necessary infrastructure is already present in the district towns. The point is relevant as provisional arrangements should not continue for long.
Access to the judiciary system is a basic right of the hills people which was ignored by successive governments in the past. It reflected a lack of concern for a section of citizens that bordered on callousness.
Now that the stage is set for setting up courts in the CHT, the decision makers should act with due urgency, taking into consideration the importance of the issue. It is not a question of offering something new to the CHT people, rather it will give them what other citizens of the country are already enjoying -- access to the justice system.