New Delhi: The Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) has expressed its approval of the Bangladesh Interim Government’s recent decision to categorise the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) as a “foreign affairs issue.”
This move was confirmed through a notification issued by the Government of Bangladesh, which also announced the reconstitution of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord Implementation & Monitoring Committee.
The committee will now be headed by Foreign Affairs Advisor Touhid Hussain, with key figures including Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, President of the Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS), and Suddatta Chakma, Chairman of the Task Force for Rehabilitation and Resettlement of the Returnee Refugees from India.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord, signed in 1997 between the insurgent JSS and the Bangladesh Army, was intended to bring peace and stability to the region.
In a statement, Suhas Chakma, the founder of CDFI, hailed the decision as a historic step, acknowledging the significant shift by the Government of Bangladesh in recognising the Chittagong Hill Tracts as a matter of foreign policy.
He pointed out that the region, which is home to a population that is 98.5% non-Muslim, had been wrongfully awarded to Pakistan in the aftermath of the 1947 partition, in contravention of the Indian Independence Act.
Chakma highlighted that the indigenous people of the CHTs had initially raised Indian flags on August 15, 1947, before the region was handed over to Pakistan just two days later.
Chakma further emphasised that the Bangladesh government is effectively occupying the CHTs, pointing to the deployment of a substantial number of Bangladesh Army personnel in the region.
He drew comparisons to the Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, alleging that Bangladesh has settled over 400,000 Muslim-majority plain settlers in the region between 1979 and 1983, with the aim of solidifying control over the area.
This resettlement effort has reportedly led to the eviction of thousands of indigenous people from their land, with over 70,000 seeking refuge in India until their return in 1998.
During the insurgency from 1975 to 1997, the Bangladesh Army is accused of killing thousands of indigenous people.
Despite the signing of the 1997 peace accord, Chakma criticized successive Bangladeshi governments for their failure to fully implement its provisions.
Among the unfulfilled commitments, he noted the continued presence of military camps, the non-return of lands occupied by illegal settlers, the inadequate rehabilitation and resettlement of refugees, and the failure to hold elections to the CHTs Regional Council and the three Hill Districts.
The CDFI’s statement calls for a thorough implementation of the CHT Accord and urges the Bangladesh government to take meaningful actions to ensure the rights of the indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are respected and upheld.
