The Independent, 27 September 2003
http://independent-bangladesh.com/news/sep/27/27092003pl.htm#A3
This is the third part of a six-part series on the situation in Chittagong Hill Tracts following an incident at Mahalchhari on August 26
Audity Falguni, Back from Khagrachhari
Confrontation between the Bengalis and the ethnic people is gradually building up over issues including dual voter system, Hill District Council law and election of the Hill District Councils, appointment of Bengali Chairperson of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB), land settlement and extortionist activities by hill extremists groups, among others.
The recent political call by CHT Regional Council Chairperson Santu Larma to hill headmen, karbaris and other traditional local government personnel not to collect tax on September 15 and to counter the political statement of BNP activists and its allied to cancel the chairmanship of Larma and annul dual voter-list system on September 18 have intensified tension.
"As the tenure of CHT Regional Council expired on September 6, Santu Larma has lost his political authority. We want to reject the provision of dual voter list system as mentioned in the peace accord," said Nazrul Islam, Khagrachhari District BNP Organisational Secretary to The Independent.
"According to the peace accord, Bengalis in three hill districts need ‘certificate of permanent residency’ and legal land records for applying their voting right in hill district elections. This is a provision not mentioned in the Constitution and does not apply to people of the rest of the country," he added.
"The peace treaty further mentions that approval of CHT Regional Council is needed to settle land disputes between the Bengalis and the Hill tribal people. The provision goes against the land rights of the Bengalis and we want its revision," Mostafizur Rahman Millat, Joint Convenor of Khagrachhari District Jubo Dal asserted.
The BNP leaders are also worried over the big gap in literacy rate between Bengalis (26 per cent) and hill people (75 per cent); reserved quota system for the hill people in education and job sectors, extortionist activities by hill extremist groups and others.
They also criticised the JSS opposition to the appointment of Khagrachhari MP Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan as Chairperson of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB) and JSS interference in holding elections in three hill districts.
It is learnt that the Hill District Council Act 1989 stipulated that only the elected MP from Khagrachhari constituency is eligible for appointment as Chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB). Earlier Kalparanjan Chakma and Dipankar Talukder were appointed CHTDB chairperson as elected MP, of the region.
"It is in the election of October 2001 that BNP candidate Wadud Bhuiyan won as Jana Sanghati Samity (JSS) called upon the hill people to boycott the election. Bengalis generally prefer BNP and Wadud had a clean victory and therefore got chairmanship of CHTDB as well," according to local BNP leaders.
"Now JSS is protesting the appointment of a Bengali as CHTDB chairperson," they said.
They also vehemently condemned Larma’s call to the traditional local government officials like headmen or karbaris not to collect tax.
When contacted, JSS Khagrachhari spokesman Sudhasindhu Khisa said, "Santu Larma’s call to hill headmen and karbaris not to collect tax is a dynamic step to resolve the land crisis in CHT."
When asked about expiry of the tenure of Regional Council on September 6, he termed the BNP local BNP leaders’ statement "wrong interpretation of the peace treaty." Terming the Four-Party allied government as "fanatically nationalist and communal," he said "JSS has struggled a lot in the last 30 years and the government should not treat us as a small or negligible force."
He sharply criticised what he called the governments apathy towards the ten arson affected villages of Mahalchhari and the initiative to grant permanent residency status to 26,000 Bengali families.
United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) which has rejected the peace accord from the beginning want "full autonomy". The local Awami League has taken the policy of "wait and see". "We support full implementation of peace accord," said convenor of District Awami League Jatindra Lal Tripura.
Serious discontent and anxiety among every section of Bengalis and the hill people was noted during the visit. The Bengalis blame the hill people as "killers of 30,000 Bengali settlers and army-police-ansar" while the hill people term the Bengalis "as killers of 20,000 hill people from 1979 to 1988."