Hill Voice, 22 September 2023, International Desk: An international conference is going to be held in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, India, on human rights violations and the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Accord.
According to the organizers, tomorrow, 23 September 2023, Saturday, at 2 pm the conference will begin with the slogan ‘Stop Islamization in Chittagong Hill Tracts’ at the conference hall of Fine Arts Academy, Cathedral Road, Maidan, Kolkata.
The conference is being held under the joint initiative of Campaign Against Atrocities on Minorities in Bangladesh (CAAMB) and All India Refugee Front. Dr. Mohit Roy on behalf of CAAMB and Mr. Sujit Sarkar on behalf of the All India Refugee Front are serving as the coordinator of the conference.
From Bangladesh, vice president of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and former Member of Parliament (MP) Ushatan Talukdar, President of CHT Citizens Committee Goutam Dewan, President of CHT branch of Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum Prakriti Ranjan Chakma, Professor of History Department of Dhaka University Dr. Mesbah Kamal, organizing secretary of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad Uttam Kumar Chakraborty are expected to attend the conference.
On the other hand, from India, the former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya Tathagata Roy, the leader of the opposition party in West Bengal legislative assembly Subhendu Adhikari, Jagannath Sarkar MP, renowned scientist of BARC Dr. Jishnu Bose, Karunalankara Bhikkhu of CHT Peace Campaign Group and others will be attending.
As this conference is being held in the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, the non-implementation of the CHT Accord of 1997 even after 25 years of signing, and the ongoing human rights violations in the CHT, many are giving importance to this conference.
One of the coordinators of the program on behalf of CAAMB, Mohit Roy, said, “We have been associated with the refugee movement in India for a long time and have stood for the oppressed Hindus and Buddhists of Bangladesh. The Buddhists of CHT region are facing extreme aggression today. Even our little support from India is important for them. Leaders of CHT and real movement leaders of West Bengal will speak in this meeting. In this conference, we will try to highlight the condition of the residents of CHT after the signing of CHT peace agreement.
