CHT peace accord: Unease growing beneath unkept promises

Successive governments have failed to implement the most important sections of the Chattogram Hill Tracts peace accord, leaving the treaty largely unfulfilled even after nearly three decades.

Rights activists say that due to non-implementation, coexistence between the CHT people and Bangalee settlers is becoming increasingly difficult. They also allege that the violence in the CHT, including recent incidents, is a result of this.

On December 2, 1997, the then Awami League government signed the accord with the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS) to bring peace to the hill region. This ended more than two decades of armed struggle by the PCJSS for autonomy of CHT.

Twenty-eight years later, the accord remains only partly implemented. The governments led by the AL, BNP, and the 2007-08 caretaker administration have been accused of lacking the political will to fulfill the key promises: establishing local councils, resolving land disputes, and demilitarising the region.

"We did not sign the accord with any political party but with the state itself, which is bound to implement it."

KS Mong, a PCJSS leader

Officially, the government claims that 65 out of the 72 sections of the accord have been implemented, with only a few remaining. PCJSS leaders reject this narrative, saying that only 25 sections have been executed, 18 partially, and 29 not at all.

When the treaty was signed, the AL government was in power but failed to implement its key sections. The BNP government, which assumed office in 2001, did not act on the accord, arguing that it had been signed by the previous administration.

The Fakhruddin Ahmed-led caretaker government, from 2007 to 2008, also did not take meaningful steps to advance the process.

The AL returned to power in 2009 and, in its election manifestos in 2009, 2014, 2018, and 2024, pledged to fully implement the accord.

Rights groups and PCJSS leaders argue that the party could have done so if it had shown genuine goodwill and not betrayed the hill people.

"We did not sign the accord with any political party but with the state itself, which is bound to implement it," said KS Mong, a central PCJSS leader.

"Yet governments have repeatedly shown no political will to do so."

INTERIM GOVT'S ACTIONS

After the AL government fell in August 2024, the CHT Peace Accord Implementation Movement submitted a list of demands to the interim administration, urging that the accord be prioritised at the national level.

Since then, the platform has held at least eight programmes to press home their demands.

In response, the interim government reconstituted the peace accord implementation and monitoring committee, led by the foreign adviser.

The committee met once in Rangamati and admitted that the treaty had not been fulfilled, KS Mong, who also serves on the regional council, told The Daily Star.

The government also appointed a new chairman for the Land Commission, which had remained inactive since its previous chief died in 2021. However, beyond these steps, no significant progress has been made in the 15 months of the interim rule, he added.

"The treaty promised local government, land dispute resolution, and demilitarisation. Yet the government's claims of progress don't reflect the ground reality."

One of the central provisions of the accord was restructuring the hill district councils to ensure fair representation of indigenous people. Rights activists say this has not been achieved.

"The ratio of indigenous to Bangalee members of the district councils is now the same, but the treaty clearly stated that one-third of members should be from the Bangalee community," said Nirupa Dewan, rights activist and former member of Women Affairs Reform Commission.

She noted that voter lists of permanent residents of hill districts were not prepared and no district council elections were never held. Instead, ruling parties appointed their loyalists as district council chairmen. As a result, the district councils and the regional council have remained largely ineffective.

This correspondent tried to contact CHT Affairs Adviser Supradip Chakma for comments. But he did not respond to our phone calls or Whatsapp messages.

LAND: THE CORE DISPUTE

The Land Commission, another crucial institution, has also failed to function properly.

"Addressing the land issue is the single most urgent priority," said Khairul Chowdhury, professor at Dhaka University's sociology department, who has been the joint coordinator of the CHT Peace Accord Implementation Movement since 2020.

"If the land issue is resolved sincerely, 80 percent of other disputes will be automatically settled," he said. "Without resolving land claims, it is impossible to prepare a proper voter list, hold district council elections, or empower the regional councils."

The Land Commission has received more than 2,200 applications since the law for the commission was amended in 2016. Yet it has remained ineffective due to a lack of rules of business, inadequate funds, and weak institutional support, said Prof Khairul.

Another unfulfilled pledge is demilitarisation.

Dipayan Khisa, a PCJSS central committee member, said, "After the signing of the accord, only 66 out of over 500 temporary military camps in the CHT were removed in two phases. Another 35 temporary camps were removed between 2009 and 2013. However, many of them were later reinstated."

Dipayan said the government has established 16 new military camps, and a BGB camp since 2022, citing a military operation against the KNF in Bandarban.

"If the accord had been properly implemented, the hill people and the Bangalees would not see each other as enemies, and there would be coexistence between the two groups," said Nirupa Dewan.

Prof Khairul said the hill people and Bangalee settlers continue to live in uncertainty and fear due to non-implementation of the peace treaty.

They both said violence in CHT would have been prevented had the accord been properly implemented.

Prof Khairul said that with local councils ineffective, governance has been left largely in the hands of bureaucrats and security agencies. Many residents describe this as a "colonial pattern of control", where the population remains subjects rather than active citizens.

"The accord was meant to be a political settlement. If we only count clauses numerically instead of addressing their spirit -- land, self-rule, reconciliation -- then the crisis will persist," Prof Khairul warned.

He cautioned that without meaningful steps, the CHT risks being trapped in a permanent limbo, similar to unresolved conflicts in places like Kashmir and Palestine.

A CALL FOR FRESH REVIEW

Many rights activists are now calling for an independent review of the treaty to assess whether and how it can be implemented.

"The CHT problem is not unsolvable," said Prof Khairul.

"With dialogue, justice on land issues, and genuine political commitment, Bangladesh can transform the hill from a source of tension into a reflection of its democratic and humanitarian values."

He argued that the accord should be reviewed independently to judge its relevance in today's context. "Circumstances have changed. Geopolitics, leadership, and ground realities are not what they were in 1997."

Such a review, he suggested, should involve credible experts, the military, political leaders, and civil society members. The army, he added, could also undertake an internal review of its role in the CHT.

"The question is whether the CHT will remain a permanent conflict zone, or whether a solution will emerge to bring peace to the region," said Prof Khairul.