The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC), yesterday sent a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, calling upon the government to pass the bill on the amendment of the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act 2001 during the ongoing ninth parliamentary session that ends on October 24.
“We particularly call upon you to ensure that all 13 points proposed by the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council and the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs which were approved by the CHT Accord Implementation Committee and adopted by the inter‐ministerial committee are fully and accurately included in the Bill,” the letter reads.
The proposals were approved by the Cabinet on June 3 and placed in the House on June 16.
Signed by its three co-chairs Eric Avebury, Sultana Kamal and Elsa Stamatopoulou, the letter said: “With the upcoming national general elections, the passing of this Act with the inclusion of all 13 amendments will be an example of your Government’s fulfilling its pledge made to the people during the 2008 election.”
The commission also urged the government to take specific measures to appoint a capable, credible and impartial chairperson of the CHT Land Commission so that the Commission could start resolving land disputes in the CHT, which is crucial to the implementation of the accord.
The commission said it was deeply concerned that whilst the land commission remained non‐functioning, conflicts related to land‐grabbing continued to take place in the CHT.
Citing some recent examples in which indigenous people were attacked, it said the allegations of grabbing indigenous peoples’ land could only be addressed once the commission started functioning fully and effectively.
Failure to do so would bring into question the credibility of the government’s commitment to fully implement the 1997 accord, the letter asserted.
