Editorial
Tribal leaders need to work in concert
WE need to recognise certain positive facts about the Chittagong Hill Tracts
region. In the post-peace accord scenario since December 1997, the CHT affairs
have been conducted under a certain framework of discipline. Insurgency, as
we had known to exist prior to the signing of the peace agreement five years
ago has been out of the way with the disbanding of the Santibahini, the armed
wing of the PCJSS. The phrases and terms like 'armed fights', 'cease-fire' and
'violation of cease-fire' have since become obsolete in our context.
All of this has been inherently positive in outlook basically raising new prospects
for peace, development and progress in the CHT. But this improvement in the
objective conditions could have been put to better use if the tribal leadership
across the board had grasped the significance of their changed circumstances.
We are having to say this in the face of mounting evidence of rivalries raging
between the PCJSS and the United People Democratic Front (UPDF). The figures
of 231 killed, 400 injured and 380 persons abducted during the last five years
speak of the heavy toll taken by their running battles.
The UPDF is opposed to the PCJSS-signed peace accord apparently on the ground
that it failed to envisage greater autonomy for the CHT. The activists of the
rival organisations have often allegedly fought over illegal toll collection
and supremacy in different areas.
It is nearly five years since the peace accord was signed and yet some of its
essential elements remain unimplemented. This is spawning unstable conditions.
The BNP government, which in its earlier stint, had basically started the process
of negotiated settlement with the tribal leadership can certainly take the accord
forward in implementation terms. It is imperative the differences between tribal
factions are subordinated to their collective stake in the economic uplift and
long term welfare of the hill districts.
They have to take the cue from the UNDP-GOB joint mission assessment report
on CHT that was released in mid-August this year. The UNDP and donor agencies
gave a green signal to flow of development assistance to the region which remained
suspended since May following abduction of foreign development workers.