The Parbatya Chattagram Chukti Bastabayan Andolan has urged political parties to prioritise the implementation of the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) Accord in their election manifestos ahead of the 13th national parliamentary election.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the organisation said it has sent formal letters to all political parties and alliances participating in the polls, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), BASAD, Bangladesh Jasad, Ganosamhati Andolan, National Citizen Party (NCP) and Jamaat-e-Islami.
The movement said that although the historic accord was signed on 2 December 1997 after 26 rounds of dialogue to end decades of armed conflict, its fundamental provisions remain unimplemented even after 28 years.
It said the continued failure to implement the accord has resulted in ongoing conflict and increasing marginalisation of indigenous communities, who have historically been deprived of political, cultural and literary rights.
The letters, signed by joint coordinators human rights activist Zakir Hossain and Professor Khairul Islam Chowdhury, said the July mass uprising has created an important opportunity to consolidate the country’s democratic journey.
Referring to the 13th parliamentary election scheduled for 12 February, the organisation said the polls have generated expectations that the state-building process will become more democratic and non-communal.
To ensure a permanent solution to the CHT crisis, the organisation placed a five-point demand for inclusion in party manifestos, including the formulation of a time-bound roadmap for swift and proper implementation of the CHT Accord.
The demands also include permanently ending military authority and indirect military rule in the Hill Tracts, democratising and empowering the CHT Regional Council and the three Hill District Councils through representative governance in line with the accord, activating the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission to resolve land disputes and rehabilitate internally displaced persons and Jumma refugees returned from India, and ensuring indigenous participation in mainstream economic progress and sustainable development programmes.
