It has been 16 years since the CHT accord was signed by an AL-led government. In the intervening period, both main parties – plus the 1/11 military-backed government – have been in power. None of them have been pro-active in implementing the agreement, even though it is clear from the recurrence of incidents in the region that implementation would help resolve grievances.
The original 1997 accord was a good achievement, but to be effective, paper commitments must be put into practice. For the AL, which was elected for a second term with a large majority, it is poor show that it has done so little in its tenure to ensure progress on implementation of the accord, that was one of its proudest first term achievements.
The land displacement problem has yet to be resolved, with thousands of land-grabbing cases still tied up in the courts, and nearly 147,000 indigenous people internally displaced.
On top of that, an amendment to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Land Dispute Resolution, which would have made possible the return of illegally leased and occupied land to displaced CHT inhabitants, was turned down by the government this November.
All parties need to do more to prove they care about guaranteeing peace in the region. They must be more diligent about making progress on the accord.
16 years is sufficient time to have implemented all of the accord’s measures, to have resolved the land dispute issues, and brought peace to the region. There is no excuse for the parties to drag their feet.