ON November 30, two days before the long anticipated peace accord was signed between the Bangladeshi administration and Chakma tribesmen of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), local police, acting on a tip-off, raided a tailoring shop at Dhaka's New Market area. The cache they recovered surprised all: Indian flags.
For those who had carefully followed the events leading to the historic signing ceremony between Abul Hasnat Abdullah, chairman of the National Committee on CHT, and Shantu Larma, chief of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sangahati Samity (PCJSS), a connection between the two events was more than evident. A few days earlier, the state-run news agency BSS, quoting intelligence agencies, said the authorities suspected a conspiracy by a group of radical opposition leaders to hoist Indian flags at various places in the CHT on the day the accord was to be signed. The authorities, BSS said, had instructed Hill Tracts administration to take appropriate action against such moves.
The man widely believed to have been behind the conspiracy was Salahuddin Kader Chowdhury, a rabidly anti-Indian member of Parliament belonging to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Independent observers say he was not acting alone and was attempting to give some credence to repeated claims made by his leader, former prime minister and BNP chief Khaleda Zia, that the Sheikh Hasina government was acting on Indian designs.
For several weeks, as a pact between the government and the PCJSS appeared increasingly imminent, Begum Zia had been crisscrossing the country, telling the people that the Hill Tracts would be delivered to New Delhi as soon as the accord was signed. "We won't let it happen and we're going to protect the integrity and sovereignty of our country at any cost," she thundered at public meetings. In accordance with this offensive, the BNP and its allies also declared general strikes and action plans aimed at foiling the "Awami League conspiracy".
Now, a fortnight after the accord, the Hill Tracts remain very much an integral part of Bangladesh. But that did not deter the BNP, Jamat-e-Islami and a few other parties from calling hartals on December 7 across Bangladesh. Then, on December 10-11, a strike brought life to a virtual standstill in Chittagong and the three Hill districts of Khagrachari, Bandarban and Rangamati.
Ruling party leaders described the BNP actions as nothing more than an attempt to destabilise the government. "They're doing it out of vengeance as they failed to settle the issue when they were in power," Sheikh Hasina told journalists. But Begum Zia stuck to her allegations about a compromise on national interest and formally rejected the peace accord, calling it a violation of the Constitution.
The agreement promises the Chakmas and 12 other major tribes in the three CHT districts of Khagrachari, Rangamati and Bandarban a regional council whose powers are well short of the type enjoyed by the tribal autonomous council in neighbouring Tripura, where an estimated 40,000 displaced Chakmas are still living. (An additional 80,000 are living in Arunachal Pradesh.) The council will have 22 members, with 15 seats reserved for tribals, and a Chakma will be chief. Each of the 13 major tribes, including the Chakmas, will have at least one member, with seven seats set aside for non-tribals (that is, Bengali Muslims).
THE Hill Tracts Regional Parishad, as the council is called, will be formed by amending some clauses of the Local Government Parishad Act. The parishad chairman will enjoy the status of a state minister and a separate ministry will be created for Hill Tracts affairs. The parishad will help implement the provisions of the accord in consultation with the central minister for tribal affairs and will also undertake the economic development of the CHT. And the government has lost no time in seeking the help of agencies in France, Japan and the Netherlands in financing specific resettlement projects in the CHT, as a means to sweeten tribal non-tribal relations.
As per another provision, a local police force will replace the present village defence parties which, allegedly in collusion with the Bangladesh Rifles, have been running havoc in the hills. Significantly, the Shanti Bahini is required to surrender arms within 45 days of the signing of the agreement.
But this compromise has failed to win over much of the tribal population, and militant groups belonging to the Hill Students Federation and the Hill Women Federation are still up in arms, calling for a revision of the accord. Bengali settlers in the Hill Tracts are also upset as, under the accord, tribals will enjoy absolute powers in certain matters. This could lead to a measure of social tension as the settlers account for nearly 49 per cent of the hill districts' one-million population.
The government has emphasised that no settler will be displaced. These settlers, mostly landless people from the plains,were brought by buses and trucks and relocated in the Hill Tracts as part of an official programme under the late President Ziaur Rahman, founder of the BNP and husband of Begum Zia. They acquired land and were given settlement deeds.
This officially-sponsored influx dramatically altered the demographic structure in the region, threatening the indigenous tribal population living there for centuries. Fearing they were on the verge of losing their distinct culture and heritage, the tribals began an armed insurgency that claimed thousands of lives on both sides in the last two decades. Subsequently, thousands of displaced Chakmas settled in Indian regions. These people, on repatriation, will probably find much of their land occupied.
Tensions were further fuelled some time ago when angry Shanti Bahini men burnt two settlement offices at Khagrachari to drive home the message that they did not recognise the settlement deeds. Given this bitter backdrop, the delicate balancing of interests between the tribals and the Bengali settlers will prove very difficult, and the first hurdle facing the accord will be land distribution after the Chakmas are repatriated.
While the opposition insists that the Council is a clear violation of the Constitution, the government argues that the statute allows for special arrangements to ameliorate the lot of the disadvantaged and backward people. The BNP is now likely to take the issue to court.
The government also refutes the opposition claim that armed forces are being withdrawn from the Hill Tracts. According to the agreement, they will simply dismantle the temporary bases along the border and return to the cantonments situated in the Hill Districts headquarters to be redeployed "under due rules and procedures".
Bimal Bhikku, spokesperson for the World Chakma Organisation, does not approve of some of the accord provisions outlined in four chapters. "To begin with," he says, "there is no guarantee that it will be ratified in Parliament. And in any case, some provisions must be amended." But Subir Bhaumik, a specialist on South Asian affairs, disagrees with the doomsayers: "Even the Shanti Bahini never called for secession but for autonomy within Bangladesh. People tend to overestimate the difficulties of this accord. I do not see any reason why they should not hand over their weapons."
"In fact, the BNP opposition to the proposed autonomy strengthens the bargaining position of the Bangladesh government vis-a-vis the tribespeople," adds Anu Mohammad, associated with the National Committee to work out reconciliation between the Chakmas and non-tribals. "It can say, look, we have given you all this despite so much opposition, but you must not ask for more now."
For the time being, at least, independent analysts say, the accord has soothed the grievances of the tribals, but it is too early to predict whether it has been able to fulfill the principal purpose of bringing peace and harmony in the Hill Tracts.
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