The chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council, Jyotinrindra Bodhipriya Larma, has termed the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission (amendment) Act-2013 as a clear violation of the peace agreement.
As per the peace accord, the government is obliged to invite regional council authorities to relevant inter-ministerial meetings before taking any important decisions, like amending the land commission bill, Larma pointed out at a press conference yesterday.
“Unfortunately, the government did not inform us, and ignored us over the crucial issue. And it has ultimately been proven that the government had an ill motive behind it,” Larma told reporters at the council’s conference room.
“We cannot expect good results from the new bill for resolving land disputes. Rather, it is giving rise to new problems in the hills,” he added.
The CHT council head, who is popularly known as Santu Larma, said proposed amendments to a few contradictory sections in the act have not been reflected properly in the new bill.
“For amending the act, we made 23 recommendations, of which only 13 were unanimously accepted at an inter-ministerial meeting of the CHT affairs ministry in July last year. But in the amendment bill placed in parliament on June 16, only 10 of the proposals were selected and the remaining three were cancelled,” he continued.
Larma also blamed the government for lacking political goodwill to fully execute the peace accord.
“As the deal has not been executed properly in more than 15 years, the hill people are passing their days in insecurity. Many people have been killed or injured in conflicts over land disputes in the CHT,” he said.
Resolving land disputes through a land commission is a pre-condition for full implementation of the peace deal, the former guerrilla leader said. Meanwhile, Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity yesterday sent a memorandum to the prime minister, demanding inclusion of the three excluded proposals in the amended bill.