Hill Voice, 25 November 2024, Special Correspondent:

CHT Regional Council

The historic Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Accord was signed on 2 December 1997 between the Government of Bangladesh and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) with a view to resolving the CHT problem in political and peaceful means.

Through the provisions of Part ‘B’ and ‘C’ of the CHT Accord, provisions have been made to introduce a special governance system comprising the CHT Regional Council and the Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban Hill District Councils. But since the core issues of the Accord have not been properly implemented, the special governance system has not yet been institutionalized in the CHT.

It has been mentioned in the report of the previous Awami League government that all the 14 Sections under the Part ‘C’ of the Accord regarding the CHT Regional Council have been implemented. Important sections of Part ‘C’ of the Accord regarding the CHT Regional Council were raised below, which the government claims to have been ‘implemented’, but these sections have not actually been implemented.

The government claims that the reference in Section No.2 of Part ‘C’ of the Accord to the effect that “Chairman-Members of the Regional Council shall be elected indirectly by the elected members of the Hill District Council” has been implemented. Even after passing 27 years of signing the Accord, as no election has been held in the Hill District Councils and for not forming the elected Hill District Councils, the election in the CHT Regional Council also has not yet been held.

It should also be noted that though the provisions for overall supervision and coordination of the subjects under the jurisdiction of the three Hill District Councils and assigned to these Councils, including coordination of all development activities carried out under the Hill District Council by Regional Council have been included in the Regional Council Act, but the power for supervision and coordination on part of the CHT Regional Council has not been made effective. Till now, it is due to non-cooperation of three Hill District Councils and the Ministry of CHT Affairs, the supervision and coordination of all the subjects including the development programs of the three Hill District Councils could not be carried out by CHT Regional Council.

The provision for Regional Council to coordinate and supervise the general administration, law and order and development of the three hill districts was included in the Act but not implemented. In addition to the Operation Uttoron, the Deputy Commissioners of the three hill districts continue to exercise all the powers related to the general administration of the districts like before as per the CHT Regulation 1900 in the hill areas.

The government considers that the section has been implemented by adding the Section No.13 of Part ‘C’ of the Accord regarding the prerogative rights of the Regional Council in making laws related to the CHT in the CHT Regional Council Act. In fact, this Section of the Accord is not being followed. The government is not accepting the advice of the Regional Council in making the laws related to CHT or even if the advice is taken, it is being ignored. For example, during the formulation of CHT Development Board Act 2014, three Hill District Council (Amendment) Act 2014, the suggestions/opinions of Regional Council were ignored.

In fact, after the signing of the CHT Accord, two-thirds of the clauses including the core issues of the Accord have not been implemented even in the past 27 years.