lnLroducLlon

1he ChlLLagong hlll LracLs (CP1) are locaLed ln Lhe souLheasLern corner of 8angladesh
borderlng 8urma and Lhe norLherneasLern lndlan sLaLes of Mlzoram and 1rlpura 1hey are Lhe
homeland of 12 eLhnlc groups numberlng abouL 600000 people Coverlng 3093 square mlles
(10 percenL of Lhe counLry) and rlslng as hlgh as 3000 feeL ln places Lhe hlll ranges conLaln
llmlLed culLlvable land mosL of lL of low quallLy ln conLrasL Lo Lhe ferLlle mulLlcropped alluvlal
plalns of 8angladesh 1hen hlll people dlffer markedly from Lhe Musllm 8engall ma[orlLy ln
8angladesh ln language culLure rellglon and farmlng meLhods 1hey pracLlce mlxed farmlng
malnly known as !hum on Lhe hlll slopes lrom !hum culLlvaLlon Lhey have derlved Lhelr
collecLlve name !umma
PlsLorlcal 8ackground Cf 1he eace Accord
8angladesh emerged as an lndependenL sLaLe on 16 uecember 1971 afLer a nlnemonLh long
war lLs blrLh rooLed ln Lhe eLhnocenLrlc eLhos of '8engall naLlonallsm' Lhe newborn counLry
was declared as a unlLary lndependenL and soverelgn 8epubllc Lo be known as Lhe eople's
8epubllc of 8angladesh" and effecLlvely falled Lo address Lhe concerns of Lhe CP1 peoples 1)
AuLonomy for Lhe reglon 2) 8eLenLlon of Lhe CP1 8egulaLlon 1900 3) 8ecognlLlon of Lhe Lhree
Clrcle Chlefs and 4) 8an on Lhe lnflux and seLLlemenL of people of nonlndlgenous eLhnlc
communlLles lnLo Lhe reglon 1hese demands were made lmmedlaLely afLer lndependence
Lhrough a delegaLlon led by Manabendra narayan Larma Lhe slLLlng Member of arllamenL
from Lhe reglon when lL called on rlme MlnlsLer Shelkh Mu[lbur 8ahman ln lebruary 1972
lollowlng Lhe fallure of Lhe meeLlng wlLh Lhe rlme MlnlsLer Larma founded a reglonal pollLlcal
parLy arbaLya ChaLLagram !ana SamhaLl SamlLy (C!SS) ln March 1972 A mlllLary wlng
ShanLl 8ahlnl was laLer added Lo lL
ln 1973 rlme MlnlsLer Shelkh Mu[lbur 8ahman and almosL hls enLlre famlly were bruLally
assasslnaLed ln a mlllLary coup d'eLaL 1hls parLlcularly shocklng lncldenL and Lhe subsequenL
uncerLalnLy prevalllng over Lhe counLry aL LhaL Llme led Manabendra narayan Larma Lo go
underground and Lo wage an lnsurgency agalnsL Lhe governmenL of 8angladesh for Lhe rlghLs of
Lhe CP1 peoples 1he lnsurgency effecLlvely conLlnued for Lhe nexL Lwo decades lmpacLlng
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severely on Lhe fabrlcs of Lhe CP1 socleLy rapld demographlc LransformaLlon resulLlng from
governmenL sponsored programs rehablllLaLlng around 300000 8engalls from Lhe plalns LhaL
rendered Lhe reglon's lndlgenous peoples lnLo mlnorlLy overnlghL lnLernal dlsplacemenL belng
as hlgh as 70 of Lhe LoLal lndlgenous populaLlon masslve envlronmenLal desLrucLlon and
refugee problems (aL one polnL Lhere were reporLedly over 60000 lndlgenous refugees who
Look shelLer ln Lhe nelghborlng SLaLe of 1rlpura lndla) 1he reglon became heavlly mlllLarlzed
and LhroughouL Lhe lnsurgency perlods Lhere have been repeaLed accusaLlons of human rlghLs
vlolaLlons LhaL lncluded massacres mass LorLures sexual abuse/vlolence and rellglous
lnLolerance agalnsL Lhe governmenL and Lhe armed forces by varlous naLlonal and lnLernaLlonal
medla and human rlghLs organlzaLlons
8y 1990s a Lruce was declared and afLer prolonged negoLlaLlons a eace Accord was slgned
beLween Lhe C!SS and Lhe CovernmenL of 8angladesh on 2 uecember 1997 lL was expecLed
LhaL Lhe Accord would flnally puL an end Lo Lhe hosLlllLles and confllcLs and provlde a cerLaln
speclflc guaranLees as Lo Lhe sLaLus and legal safeguards for Lhe reglon and lLs lndlgenous
populaLlons whlle pavlng Lhe way for fuLure socloeconomlc developmenL Powever Lhe
slgnlng of Lhe eace Accord leL Lo a dlvlde ln Lhe lndlgenous movemenL ln Lhe CP1 and Lo daLe
Lhe eace Accord remalns largely unlmplemenLed
SallenL leaLures Cf 1he CP1 eace Accord
under Lhe framework of Lhe ConsLlLuLlon of 8angladesh and keeplng full and flrm confldence ln
Lhe soverelgnLy and lnLegrlLy of 8angladesh Lo uphold Lhe pollLlcal soclal culLural educaLlonal
and economlc rlghLs of all Lhe people of ChlLLagong Plll 1racLs reglon and Lo expedlLe soclo
economlc developmenL process and Lo preserve and respecL Lhe rlghLs of all Lhe clLlzens of
8angladesh and Lhelr developmenL Lhe naLlonal CommlLLee on ChlLLagong Plll 1racLs on behalf
of Lhe governmenL of Lhe eople's 8epubllc of 8angladesh and arbaLya ChaLLagram !ana
SanghaLl SamlLy on behalf of Lhe lnhablLanLs of ChlLLagong Plll 1racLs have reached Lhe
followlng agreemenL ln four parLs (A 8 C u) 1hey are as follows
A Ceneral
694.;;1]ustified
8 1he ChlLLagong Plll 1racLs Local CovernmenL Councll
C 1he ChlLLagong Plll 1racLs 8eglonal Councll
u 8ehablllLaLlon Ceneral amnesLy and CLher lssues
1he sallenL feaLures of Lhe accord complled from Lhe orlglnal LexL of Lhe CP1 peace accord are
as follows
- 1he accord has recognlzed CP1 as a reglon populaLed by Lrlbals Lhe need for preservlng Lhe
parLlcular characLerlsLlcs of Lhe reglon and Lhe need for lLs developmenL
- 1he Lwo sldes have reached agreemenL wlLh regard Lo changlng amendlng lncorporaLlng and
wrlLlng off Lhe exlsLlng Lhree ordlnances for Lhe Lhree hlll dlsLrlcLs Lhe 8angamaLl/ 8andarban/
khagracharl (Plll ulsLrlcL Local CovernmenL Councll AcL1989)
- 1he governmenL agreed Lo seL up a separaLe MlnlsLry of CP1 Affalrs Lo be headed by a
MlnlsLer from among Lhe Lrlbal people
- 1he 'Plll ulsLrlcL Local CovernmenL Councll' shall be renamed as 'Plll ulsLrlcL Councll' and wlll
have Lhe funcLlons and responslblllLles of land and land admlnlsLraLlon local pollce Lrlbal law
and soclal [usLlce youLh welfare envlronmenL proLecLlon and developmenL local Lourlsm
lrrlgaLlon and llcense for local Lrade and commerce [hum culLlvaLlon and money lendlng
buslness
- 1he Plll ulsLrlcL Counclls wlll be formed under ArLlcle 39 of Lhe consLlLuLlon whlch sLaLes LhaL
local governmenL would be formed ln every admlnlsLraLlve unlL of Lhe counLry wlLh people
elecLed Lo such bodles 1hree seaLs are reserved for women ln each dlsLrlcL councll and Lwo
Lhlrds of Lhese seaLs wlll be for Lrlbals
- A 'nonLrlbal permanenL resldenL' musL have legal land ln Lhe hlll dlsLrlcL and should have a
speclflc address Moreover wheLher a person ls a nonLrlbal shall be deLermlned along wlLh
Lhe ldenLlLy of nonLrlbal Lo whlch he belongs and no person can be a candldaLe for Lhe offlce of
Lhe nonLrlbal member wlLhouL a cerLlflcaLe from Lhe concerned Clrcle Chlef ln Lhls regard
- 1he accord also provldes for Lhe formaLlon of a '8eglonal Councll' Lo coordlnaLe Lhe
developmenL acLlvlLles underLaken by Lhe Lhree dlsLrlcL counclls and for overseelng general
admlnlsLraLlon lncludlng law and order 1here would be boLh Lrlbal and nonLrlbal
represenLaLlves ln Lhe reglonal councll buL Lhe Lrlbal represenLaLlves would be ln Lhe ma[orlLy
- 1he Chalrman of Lhe 8eglonal Councll shall be elecLed lndlrecLly by Lhe elecLed members of
Plll ulsLrlcL Councll from amongsL Lhe Lrlbals Pls sLaLus wlll be LhaL of a SLaLe MlnlsLer of Lhe
governmenL
- 1he Councll shall be consLlLuLed of LwenLyflve members 1here shall be an elecLed chalrman
Lwelve male Lrlbal members Lwo female Lrlbal members slx male nonLrlbal members and one
female nonLrlbal member 1he Lhree Chalrmen of Lhe Plll ulsLrlcL Counclls wlll be exofflclo
members wlLh voLlng rlghLs
- 1he members of Lhe 8eglonal Councll wlll be elecLed by Lhe elecLed members of Lhe Lhree Plll
ulsLrlcL Counclls and Lhe Lerm of Lhe councll wlll be flve years
- 1here wlll be a Chlef LxecuLlve Cfflcer wlLh Lhe rank of a !olnL SecreLary Lo Lhe governmenL ln
Lhe reglonal councll and Lrlbals wlll be preferred for appolnLmenL for Lhls posL
- 1he ShanLl 8ahlnl rebels wlll surrender Lhelr arms under a general amnesLy and Lhey wlll
recelve flnanclal asslsLance Lo reLurn Lo normal llfe
- 1he governmenL wlll wlLhdraw securlLy ouLposLs manned by Lhe army and paramlllLary forces
- 1he Lrlbal refugees wlll be rehablllLaLed wlLh a sum of 1aka 30 Lhousand per famlly aL a Llme
1he governmenL wlll also provlde Lwo acres of land ln Lhe respecLlve locallLy sub[ecL Lo
avallablllLy of land of Lhe landless Lrlbals or Lhe Lrlbals havlng less Lhan Lwo acres of land per
famlly Croveland wlll be allocaLed ln Lhe case of nonavallablllLy of necessary lands
- A flvemember Land Commlsslon wlLh a reLlred [usLlce as lLs head wlll be consLlLuLed Lo seLLle
dlspuLes regardlng lands and premlses
- rlorlLy wlll be glven Lo Lhe Lrlbal people ln all klnds of appolnLmenL ln all governmenL seml
governmenL and auLonomous organlzaLlons ln CP1



















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lmplemenLaLlon Cf 1he CP1 eace Accord



8efferences
Llfe ls noL ours Lhe ChlLLagong Plll 1racLs Commllsslon 694.;;1Font: 12 pt