A Brief Account of HR of Upazati

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A Brief Account of

Human Rights Situation of the Indigenous Peoples

in Bangladesh

Assessed by

Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)Chiang Mai, ThailandJanuary-August 2007

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Acronyms

ADB Asian Development Bank

BCS Bangladesh Civil Service

CAT Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or DegradingTreatment or Punishment

CBD Convention on Biological Diversity

ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminationagainst Women

CESCR Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

CERD Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

CHT Chittagong Hill Tract

CHTDF UNDP Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility

CHTRC Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council

CHTRDP Chittagong Hill Tracts Rural Development Project

CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child

DC Deputy Commissioner

DANIDA Danish International Development Agency

GoB Government of Bangladesh

HDC Hill District Council

IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development

ILO International Labour Organization

IPs Indigenous Peoples

MP Member of Parliament

NCTBB National Curriculum and Text Book Board

PCJSS Parbatta Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

PSC Public Service Commission

SAD Special Affairs Division

UN United Nations

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNESCO United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organisation

UNICEF United Nations International Children Emergency Fund

UPDF United Peoples’ Democratic Front

WFP World Food Programme

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CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Objective of the report

Methodology

CHAPTER 2: SITUATION OF BANGLADESH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

2.1.Demographic Status

2.2.Political Status

2.3.Economic Status

2.4.Socio/Cultural Status

2.5.Educational Status

2.6.Indigenous Women

2.7.Indigenous Children

CHAPTER 3: OVERVIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS

3.1. Ratification and Implementation of International treaties

3.2. Constitution and specific legislation for Indigenous Peoples

3.3. National Sectoral Policies and Indigenous Peoples

3.4. Justice and human rights situation

CHAPTER 4: ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND AGENCIES

CHAPTER 5: PRIORITY ISSUES IN RELATION TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS ANDFUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

CHAPTER 6: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

6.1. UN and the International Community

6.2. Special Rapporteur

6.3. Bangladesh Government

6.4. Human Rights Organizations, NGOs and other Agencies

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Bangladesh has more than 45 Indigenous ethnic communities who have been living in the country forcenturies. According to the official census of 2001, the total number of indigenous people inBangladesh was 1,772,788. However, these figures are a gross underestimation. Indigenous peoplesclaim that the indigenous population in the country is about three million.

The largest concentration of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh is found in the southeastern borderregion of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). According to the 1991 census, the indigenous Jummapeople in CHT together numbered 501,144 and the indigenous peoples of the plain regions wereestimated to number about 704,834.

The government refers indigenous peoples as ‘tribal’ in official documents, although some legaldocuments also sometimes refer to them as ‘aboriginals’ and ‘indigenous hill men’. The Constitutionof Bangladesh does not directly mention the indigenous peoples or tribal, but it is understood that theindigenous peoples form part of the disadvantaged part of the citizenry, which the constitution termsas ‘backward section of citizens’.

Discrimination and human rights violation is particularly glaring in the indigenous-inhabited regions,where they have continued to suffer from violent land-grabbing and other forms of landalienation. The indigenous peoples have been evicted, or threatened with eviction, from theirtraditional homes and lands in the name of development projects, such as dams, eco-parks, nationalparks, protected forest and even the establishment of military bases on their ancestral and communityland. These and other major problems faced by the indigenous peoples continue to be neglected bysucceeding governments and are worsened on account of the very limited participation of indigenouspeoples in major decision-making processes.

However, the government has undertaken some affirmative action in favour of indigenous peoples.Notable among these are the establishment of a Special Affairs Division particularly for plain landsindigenous peoples; the signing of the CHT Peace Accord with the PCJSS as a solution of the CHTproblem through political and peaceful means; the amendment of CHT Regulation in 2003 forestablishment of a separate district judge court in CHT; the inclusion of the term ‘adivasi’ andindigenous peoples’ issues in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP); and continuing the quotareservation for ‘tribal’ people in the government jobs and educational institutions.

The Government of Bangladesh has ratified a number of international human rights treaties andconventions, which has fundamental bearing on the indigenous peoples. These treaties include theInternational Convention on the Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Convention onElimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), The International Covenant onEconomical, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR), ILO Conventions 107 (Indigenous and TribalPeoples), and the Convention on Biological Diversity CBD). However, the implementation of theprovisions of the aforesaid treaties is far from satisfactory. The government is in fact very reluctant toimplement international human rights mechanisms and conventions related to indigenous populations.

Though several international organisations and agencies, including those of the UN specialisedagencies, have their own policies of engagement with indigenous peoples, they however do not followthese policies when they undertake development projects in the territory of indigenous peoples inBangladesh. They do not even try to incorporate indigenous peoples’ perspectives in theirdevelopment initiatives.

The idiosyncratic mindset of the Bengali Muslim ruling elite, intelligentsia and bureaucrats, which isdeeply influenced by a chauvinistic mentality, is largely responsible for the total non-recognition ofthe human rights and fundamental freedoms of the indigenous peoples in Bangladesh. There is alsoserious lack of knowledge among majority Bengalis about indigenous cultures, languages, way of life,history and traditions. Non-recognition of indigenous people’s rights and existence in the Constitutionis a fundamental problem for the marginalisation of indigenous peoples. The lack of political will bythe government to implement the CHT Peace Accord is the major challenge in protecting the rights ofindigenous peoples in the CHT.

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact has undertaken the preparation of country-level reports on human

rights and indigenous peoples in Asia. This report has been prepared for Bangladesh as part of this

project. It has proceeded with the close cooperation of the indigenous peoples through their respective

organizations.

This outline paper is a preparatory document to guide the organizations concerned in writing the

report on indigenous peoples and human rights in their respective countries. It is expected that the

outline paper will assist the lead organizations in a systematic process to prepare reports.

1.1. Objective of the report

In general, the aim is to gather and collate information on the state of indigenous peoples in Asia

focusing on their human rights and fundamental freedoms and to prepare a comprehensive report.

In addition, this report is intended to be submitted to the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and

Fundamental Freedoms of indigenous peoples in order to elaborate specific issues of indigenous

peoples on human rights in the UN. Similarly, the reports will provide broader information on the

human rights situation in the countries covered as well as other endeavours deemed necessary.

1.2. Information Collection

(a) Primary information gathering:

First hand information is collected through site visits, individual interviews and group discussions.

Other relevant tools were developed gradually to elaborate the process of gathering primary

information.

(b) Secondary information gathering:

Secondary sources of information are used for providing backgrounders on the demographic,

economic, social, cultural and political situation or status of indigenous peoples in the countries.

Before preparing the report it was planned that the information be collected through surveys as

well as from interviews with the affected indigenous peoples’ communities, local community

leaders and other relevant agencies. But unfortunately, for the changed situation of the country,

especially the state of emergency, the field visits were postponed. Most of the information had

been collected from the local community leaders and the newspapers. Some indigenous peoples’

organizations such as Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum, Jatiya Adivasi Porishad and other

national based NGOs were visited and interviewed. In addition, during the celebration of the

International Day for World’s Indigenous Peoples held in Dhaka on 9 August 2007, activists and

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representatives who attended the programme, both from indigenous communities and mainstream

communities, were interviewed.

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CHAPTER 2

SITUATION OF BANGLADESH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Like other parts of the world, indigenous peoples in Bangladesh are the most disadvantaged,neglected and vulnerable people in the country. The Bangladesh government does not have anyformal policy for the development of indigenous populations. Indigenous peoples have oftenfaced eviction from their homelands in the name of development projects and conservation suchas dams, eco-parks, protected areas, reserve forest and even the establishment of military bases ontheir ancestral and community land. Their land has been taken without their consent. Theirculture is treated as inferior in the country.

Over the years the indigenous peoples experienced a strong sense of social, political andeconomic exclusion, lack of recognition, fear and insecurity, loss of cultural identity, and socialoppression. Mainstream development efforts have either ignored their concerns and/or had anegative impact on them. Often issues and actions that affect them are not discussed with thesecommunities or organizations representing them. Thus they are subjected to stark socio-economicdeprivation. Mass relocation of non-indigenous people in the traditional adivasi/ethnic minorityareas have also caused land-grabbing, leading to livelihood displacement among the indigenouspeoples.1

2.1.Demographic Status:

More than 45 Indigenous ethnic communities with a population of nearly three million peoplehave been living in the country for centuries. According to the 2001 (provisional) Census Report ,the total number of indigenous (officially ‘tribal’) people in Bangladesh is about 1,772,788,which is 1.28 per cent of the total population of the country. However, indigenous peoples claimthat the population of the indigenous peoples all over the country is about 3 million.

Indigenous peoples in other parts of ‘plains’ Bangladesh are located mainly in the border regionsin the northwest (Rajshahi-Dinajpur), central north (Mymensingh-Tangail), northeast (GreaterSylhet), south and southeast (Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Greater Barisal). According to the2001 (provisional) census report, the indigenous peoples of the plain regions were estimated tonumber about 1,036,060. However, plain indigenous peoples claim that their population isestimated 2 million. Among them, the Santal are the most numerous, constituting almost 30 percent of the indigenous population of the plains, followed by the Garo, Hajong, Koch, Manipuri,Khasi, Rakhain etc.

According to the response of the indigenous activists, in the eastern zone of India among theindigenous peoples, Garo, Hajongs, Kochs and others were the worst affected communities by thepartition of India in 1947. Since then thousands of Bengali Muslims were transferred to theseindigenous areas to be settled there, turning the indigenous communities into minorities on theirown land. As a result, many Garos, Hajongs, Kochs, Dalus and other indigenous peoplesmigrated to India. In 1964 and 1965, communal riots were even induced to evict Garos and otherindigenous peoples in Greater Mymensingh from their territory.

In CHT, eleven indigenous ethnic groups – such as the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Tanchangya,Mro, Lushai, Khumi, Chak, Khyang, Bawm and Pankhua who collectively identify themselves asthe Jumma people (Highlanders) – have been living in CHT for centuries. In addition, a very

1 UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), People’s Republic of Government ofBangladesh, 2005, p-152

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small number of descendants of Assames and Gorkhas also live in the CHT. At the timeofIndependence of

India and Pakistan, the total population of CHT was only 247,053. Out of this number, only 2.5per cent were Bengali (including 1.5 percent of whom were Bengali Muslims). But after 20 yearsof the Pakistan period and 31 years of the Bangladesh period, the demography of CHT hassignificantly changed especially after the systematic illegal settlement of Bengali Muslims by thesuccessive governments. According to the provisional census report of 2001, the total populationof the CHT was 1,342,740 (including ethnic Bengali and settlers). Of this number, 736,682 wereJumma (who are less than 0.5per cent of the population of the country) and 606,058 were Bengali.However, the indigenous Jumma peoples believe that their population is more than 800,000.However the 2001 census doe not provide disaggregated data according to ethnicity. The CHT isnow the only region in the country with an indigenous majority.

Indigenous Population in CHT

Sl. EthnicGroup

1871 1901 1951 1981 1991

1. Chakma 28,097 44,392 133,075 230,273 239,417

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2. Tanchangya 19,2113. Marma 22,060 30,706 65,889 122,734 142,3344. Tripura 8,100 23,341 37,246 54,375 61,1295. Mro* 2,378 10,540 16,121 17,811 22,1616. Bawm 305 696 977 5,733 6,9787. Khyang 306 1,427 1,300 5,453 1,9508. Pangkhu 177 241 627 2,278 3,2279. Khumi 534 1,053 1,941 1,188 1,24110. Lushai -- 678 3,341 1,041 66211. Chak -- -- -- 910 2,000

Others** 828Total 61,957 113,074 260,517 441,796 501,144

Source: An Evaluation of Integrated Community Development Programme for the CHT

* Census report of 1991 mentions a Mro population of 22,041 and a Murang population of 126. In fact, they are sameethnic group.

** Census report of 1991 does not clearly explain who these “others” are. However, 70 persons belonging to theRakhaine community are included.

Historically, the indigenous Jumma peoples are known to have lived in the CHT even before thearrival of the Portuguese in Bengal in the 16th century. On the other hand, Bengali people, whoare the most populous and dominant ethnic group in Bangladesh, are not known to have settled inthe region prior to the 19th century. However, the Bengali population has increased manifoldsince then, especially with the government-sponsored population transfer programme of 1979-84.2 According to the respondents, the more-than-400,000 Bengali Muslims from the plainsdistricts have illegally been given settlement in CHT by the government. The changes in thedemographic trend according to the censuses are given below:

Trend of Demographic and ethnic composition

Year Jumma population Bengali population Total SourcePopulation % Population %

1871 -- -- -- -- 63,0541881 -- -- -- -- 101,5971891 -- -- -- -- 107,2861901 -- -- -- -- 124,7621911 -- -- -- -- 153,8301921 -- -- -- -- 173,2431931 -- -- -- -- 212,9221941 239,783 97.06 7,270 2.94 247,053 Census 19411951 269,177 93.71 18,070 6.29 287,247 Census 19511961 339,757 88.23 45.322 11.77 385,679 Census 19611970 -- -- 66,000 -- 66,000 JSS statistics1974 392,199 77.17 116,000 22.83 508,199 JSS statistics1981* 441,744 58.77 313,188 41.48 754,962 Census 19811991 501,144 51.40 473,301 48.60 974,445 Census 19912001 736,682 -- 606,058 -- 1342,740 Census 2001

* In 1981:

(1) Total Hindu population (Bengali & Tripura) is 69,802 and Tripura 58,385. Therefore, actual Bengali Hindu populationis 11,417.

(2) Total Bengali population (Muslim & Hindu) is 313,188 and Bengali Hindu population 11,477. Therefore, actualBengali Muslim population is 310,771.

2 Challenges for Judicial Pluralism and Customary Laws of Indigenous Peoples: the Case of the Chittagong HillTracts, Bangladesh by Raja Devasish Roy, Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2004

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2.2.Political Status

The first Constitution of Bangladesh, adopted in 1972, did not recognise the presence ofindigenous peoples in the country. The Constitution also did not recognize the separateadministrative arrangement. There are still no reserved seats for indigenous peoples in theparliament and local government bodies.

Plains land

For the plains indigenous peoples in Greater Mymensingh district, the British governmentdeclared five thanas such as Sribardi, Nalitabari, Haluaghat, Durgapur and Kolmakanada asPartially Excluded Areas3 in 1935. These areas bordering the Garo hills were predominantlyindigenous majority areas. By declaring these areas as partially excluded areas, some safeguardswere given to indigenous peoples. The former partially excluded areas of Mymensingh werehowever not included in the tribal areas list in the 1962 Constitution of Pakistan, unlike the CHT.The changed constitutional status of Mymensingh resulted, among others, in a huge influx ofsettlers into the region, starting from the 1950s and continuing into the 1980s. The self-government systems of the indigenous peoples of the plains districts also remain totallyunrecognized.

In the plains, there is a law –the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 (at section97) – which forbids the transfer of lands owned by aboriginals to non-aboriginal persons withoutthe express consent of the government’s district officer. This law is specially protected in theConstitution (Article 47(2) and First Schedule), on account of administrative implications of legalchallenges regarding complex land issues, rather than on account of the political arrangement forplains indigenous peoples.

In fact, at present there are no special political arrangements for plains indigenous peoples in thecountry. Even the government does not pay due attention to the demand of the plains indigenouspeoples for introducing reserved seats in the local government bodies such as the Union Council,Upazila Council and District Council.

Chittagong Hill Tracts

The CHT is the only region in Bangladesh that has a unique legal and administrative system thatis different from the rest of the country. The overall institutional setup for developmentalinterventions prevailing in the country does exist in CHT, but alongside it are a number of otherinstitutions as well. These are reflective of the distinct socio-political, cultural and historicalbackground of the region.

The CHT Peace Accord signed between the government and indigenous Jumma peoples in 1997introduces a special political arrangement for CHT with the formation of CHT Regional Council(CHTRC) as an apex political body of the region and the three Hill District Councils (HDCs).The newly introduced CHT Regional Council and the somewhat older Hill District Councils arealso unique to the CHT. The majority of the seats (two-thirds) in the CHTRC and HDCs,including the positions of the chairs, are reserved for indigenous peoples and one-third of theseats are for permanent Bengali residents. The Peace Accord also contributed to the creation ofthe Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs (MoCHTA) in Dhaka, with a minister to be

3 A ‘partially excluded area’ is a comparatively mixed, but still predominantly tribal-dominated territory, whoseadministrative system was more integrated into the regular administration of the province (than was the casewith excluded areas), and a higher number of laws of general application were allowed to function therein.

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appointed from among the indigenous peoples and for an Advisory Committee to be constitutedto lend support to the ministry.

However, the powers and functions of the CHTRC and three HDCs are yet to be executed. Theelection of the members of the HDCs is yet to be held and no subject has been transferred sincesigning of the Accord. The voter list oof the permanent residents of CHT is also yet to beprepared. The HDCs are running with nominated chairmen and members who are nominated bythe ruling party. Though the CHT Accord provides that CHTRC will coordinate and supervise alldevelopment activities in the CHT including three HDCs, CHTDB, local bodies and NGOs, butHDCs and CHTDB have not complied with this.

In addition to the above institutions, the CHT has a traditional structure based on the customs ofthe local indigenous groups. This includes the Circle Chiefs or Rajas, Headmen at Mouza4 andKarbaries at village levels.

Politically, the question of the Bengalis settlers who were settled in the CHT by the governmentin 1979-85 remains one of the most difficult problems in the context of the CHT at present.Indigenous peoples including political leaders, regardless of whether they support or reject theCHT Peace Accord, continue to call for the dignified rehabilitation of Bengali settlers to outsidethe CHT. On the other hand, as of today no major political party of Bangladesh has demonstratedany desire or political will to entertain such a demand. The civil society of the country as a wholehas also been silent on this issue for a long time.5

It is worth mentioning that during and before the Mughal period in the Indian subcontinent, thehill people of the CHT region were independent and their territory was much larger than thepresent CHT region. Even during the British colonial period (1860-1947), the CHT was regardedas an ‘Excluded Area’, in order to protect the indigenous Jumma people from economicexploitation by non-indigenous people and to preserve the indigenous peoples’ socio-cultural andpolitical institutions based on customary laws and community ownership of land. In fact, severalprovisions of the CHT Regulation of 1900 functioned as a safeguard for the Jumma people and itprohibited immigration into the region and land ownership by non-indigenous people.

Though the ‘Excluded Area’ status was retained in the first Constitution of Pakistan passed in1956, the government of Pakistan amended laws that restricted the entry of non-indigenouspeople into the region and prevented acquisition of land titles. Since the 1960s, during thePakistani period and even after Bangladesh became independent in 1971, the entire CHT regionwas thrown open for unrestricted migration and acquisition of land titles by non-indigenouspeople, in violation of the letter and spirit of the 1900 Regulation.

Soon after the Independence of Bangladesh in 1971, in 1972, Mr. M N Larma, Member of thethen Constituent Assembly, raised the demand for autonomy in Parliament prior to the adoptionof the Constitution. But all his efforts ended in failure and the first Constitution was passedwithout recognising the presence of indigenous peoples in the country.

With a view to control the self-determination movements of the Jumma people, the governmentinitiated suppressive measures including militarisation and infiltration of Bengali population.Finding no other alternative to ensuring their very survival, the Jumma people rallied behind thebanner of the Parbatta Chattagram Jana Samghati Samiti (PCJSS) led by Mr. Larma. Thepeaceful democratic movement turned into an armed struggle in 1975, when all democraticavenues failed to draw attention of the government and the nation.

4 A Mouza in the plains districts only denotes a revenue unit. In the CHT, it is, in addition, an administrativeunit comprising of several villages under a Headman. A mouza can be multi-ethnic.

5 Conference Report on Human Rights and Governance, January 16-18, 2005, Manusher Jonno and Partners

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CHT Peace Accord and its implementation

However the PCJSS always kept the door open for a negotiated dialogue for resolving the CHTproblem through political and peaceful means. Hence the formal dialogue was started in 1985with the government. Finally, during the period of the Sheikh Hasina government on 2 December1997, the CHT Accord, popularly known as CHT Peace Accord, was signed between thegovernment and the PCJSS.

The Accord ends more than two decades of armed struggle for self-determination and paves theway for the peace, development and representation of the Jumma people. It recognizes the CHTas a tribal-inhabited region, and allowed for the establishment of the CHT Regional Council, thethree Hill District Councils, the CHT Affairs Ministry and the Land Commission. It also soughtthe demilitarization of the region and the rehabilitation of the victims, among other things.

Though the Awami League government signed the Accord, there was no sincerity to fullyimplement the Accord on the part of the Prime Minister. Only a portion of the Accord wasimplemented during her three years and eight months tenure. Also, during the period of the BNP-led four-party coalition government, vital clauses of the Accord were violated. As a result, thoughmore than ten years have passed since the signing of the Accord, most of the provisions –especially the main issues like land and land management, law and order, police (local), landcommission, primary education in indigenous language and secondary education, forest andenvironment – have not been implemented.

Lack of political will is a major reason for the non-implementation of the Accord. Nont onlygovernment sincerity is lacking in implementing the Accord, but vested groups from rulingparties, civil administration, military in CHT and Islamic fundamentalist have also been impedingthe Accord from the very beginning.

2.3.Economic Status

The disaggregated data on the actual socio-economic condition of the indigenous peoples inBangladesh is not available. However it is generally accepted that the worst poverty situation inBangladesh is among the indigenous peoples who live in the rural and hilly areas. Poverty amongthe indigenous peoples is pervasive and severe, particularly in northwest region of the country.Indigenous peoples are also represented disproportionately among both the poor and extremepoor. This trend has been worsening over the past decade due to the dispossession of land.

Indigenous peoples also lack access to information and technology. This prevents them fromparticipating in, and benefiting from, technological and other changes in the society, particularlyeconomic reforms and developments. Many suffer from ethnic prejudice, ill-health, badnutritional conditions and bad hygiene. These problems are slowly but steadily resulting in theirmarginalization and corroding their social fabric. Indigenous peoples live in remote areas andalso far away from each other, and as a result of poor communications it is difficult to mobiliseand organise them. Inadequate representation at various levels of government and the policyprocesses have hampered the ability of indigenous peoples and their leadership to influencepolicy decisions which affect their lives.6

As far as development activities are concerned, the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh have hadlittle or no voice in decision-making. They do not have control over their own development. Theyhave become only the target groups or so-called beneficiaries. Social discrimination operates atvarious levels and in various ways. Even where measures are undertaken by government agencies


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(and to a lesser extent, by NGOs) for indigenous peoples, the proposed beneficiaries are seldomconsulted prior to the formulation of development projects or even during its implementation.However, as a result of the administrative devolution in the CHT, indigenous people are nowmore in control of deciding their development priorities. But even here, major decision-makingpowers and financial authority are retained by the ministries operating from the national capital.

The indigenous peoples are neither enjoying the benefits of development programmes nor arethey getting back their lands (their main source of livelihood) from the occupants. Manyindigenous youths are without any sustainable alternatives and are finding themselves in adifficult socio-economic situation, and in this way they are also losing their traditionallivelihoods. For instance, a good number of Garo young girls have migrated to cities and areworking in the beauty parlors. These young girls often face discrimination and harassment at theworkplace. They are lowly paid (most of them get Tk. 2,000-4,000 per month) and irregularlypaid. They work for almost 10-12 hours per day and in many parlors, they do not even haveweekly holidays. The Garo girls merely get permission to go out if they are to meet their relativesor to go out with friends. Sometimes the girls are battered by their employers for minimalmistakes.7

The main feature of the indigenous economy is agriculture. This includes Jum cultivation, fruitorchard, horticulture and wet rice cultivation in the CHT, while in the plains it is mainly wet ricecutivation. The unique method of agriculture of the CHT is known as Jum or Swidden cultivation(swiddening) The Jum cultivation method was suitable for its terrain and the Jumma people werewell acquainted with the process. It is totally different from the agriculture of plains areas.

It is noted that only 3 per cent of the total land is suitable for rice/plough cultivation and 21 percent is suitable for horticulture and tree crops, while the rest is suitable for forest only. Theunique hilly terrain and the size of the indigenous population was optimum for the Jum-basedsubsistence economy. However the construction of the Kaptai Dam in the 1960s and the allowingof illegal settlements in the CHT had a catastrophic effect on the indigenous economy. On the onehand, Kaptai Dam submerged 40 percent of the cultivable lands; on the other, the artificialincrement of the population has severely effected the Jum base economy.

Presently, the people of CHT are surviving by combining a number of occupations. Many stilldepend on Jum cultivation while some have shifted to grove cultivation and plains areacultivation. Paddy, cotton, oil seeds, banana, pineapple, ginger and turmeric are some of the agro-products produced in the region. There is also plenty of forest resources (e.g. the wood, bamboos)to be found in the CHT. On the other hand, the free market economy is slowly expanding itsinfluence into the CHT. There are also a number of industries (e.g. Karnaphuli Paper Mill, RayonMill) that are also contributing to the CHT economy. However, the control of this part of theeconomy is totally in the hand of the non-residents of the CHT.

Indigenous peoples have meager access to the means of production such as capital andentrepreneurship. Their lack of skills also makes it difficult for them to enter the job market.. Assuch, they face many obstacles in contributing to and benefiting from economic growth.

Trade and commerce in the CHT are controlled almost exclusively by Bengali traders andmerchants.8 Therefore, the influence of the Bengali population has risen significantly over theyears, commensurate with its growing numbers, economic clout, and its closer links with thesocial, economic, and political elite in the capital city of Dhaka. Although there is a growingmiddle class among the indigenous people, its economic and political influence is, in comparison,quite limited, especially where it concerns decision-making at the national level. Large sections

7 ‘Beauty Parloure Mandir Meyera Kemon Achhen’ published by Garo Indigenous Women Association, 20068 The Economy of the Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts: Some Myths and Realities by P B

Chakma, Workshop on Development in the CHT organised by Forum for Environment and Sustainabledevelopment in the CHT, 1998

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of the indigenous population, therefore, remain socially and economically marginalised,especially due to displacement and land alienation on account of privatisation, the imposition ofinappropriate development and economic policies by the state, and state-sponsored populationtransfer of non-indigenous people into the region.9

Employment and Urban Migration

Indigenous peoples are also discriminated in the field of employment and occupation. They aredeprived of the most challenging and attractive government and non-government jobs, justbecause of their racial distinction from the mainstream people. Although government reserves 5per cent of the jobs in the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) for indigenous peoples, this is notactually practiced. In this regard, the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Ministry ofEstablishment have not published any information on the trend of representation of indigenouspeoples in the civil service. A total 29,667 persons got BCS job through 20 BCS examinationssince 1972.10 According to the 5 per cent quota, this means a total of 1,483 indigenous persons aresupposed to be given BCS jobs. But, as indigenous activists have commented, in reality, thefigure is far lower than that. On the other, they said, no measures have been taken on the part ofthe government to provide quotas to indigenous peoples for overseas’ employment (wherein eachyear thousands of Bangladeshi labourers are sent to Middle East and South-East Asian countries).

The indigenous peoples also lack job opportunities in their remote homelands, suffer widespreadlivelihood insecurity, experience unresolved political issues, encounter widening social injustice,and face mass eviction from their traditional lands. As a result, many of them decide to migrate tothe cities where there are better livelihood options available. This is the reason the Garo girlswork in the beauty parlours or the Jumma youths work in the EPZs. This internal migration of theindigenous peoples is contributing to their economic advancement but many also face varioussorts of discrimination such as wage discrimination, abuse, mental and physical assault.11 Thetrend of urban migration becomes evident after interviewing different indigenous men, womenand organizations.

Land dispossession and poverty

Land dispossession is the main problem that the indigenous peoples in Bangladesh face. Likeother countries of the world, the lands, forests and territories of the indigenous peoples inBangladesh have been and are still being taken away from them without their free, prior andinformed consent – to build dams or create reserve forests, protected areas, national parks, eco-parks, and even for settlement of government-sponsored non-indigenous migrants and expansionand establishment of military bases and training centres. Land dispossession is particularlyglaring in Bangladesh, where not only have indigenous peoples continued to suffer from violentland-grabbing and other forms of land alienation, but many have been evicted, or threatened witheviction, from their traditional homelands.

It is worth mentioning that the land management system of the indigenous peoples is distinctlydifferent from the general land administration of the country. The indigenous peoples have rightto the traditional lands and its resources, by virtue of their common ownership of these areas, and

9 Challenges for Judicial Pluralism and Customary Laws of Indigenous Peoples: the Case of the Chittagong HillTracts, Bangladesh by Raja Devasish Roy, Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, 2004

10 Situation of Indigenous Women and ILO Covention on Discrimination by Dr. Sadeka Halim, Professor ofDhaka University, Sanghati 2007.

11 Ibid

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traditional economic activities such as fishing, hunting and gathering are carried out in theseareas. They practice their traditional land management systems, which does not requireregistration with government offices.

Thegovernment does not formally recognize the rights of the indigenous people to thecommonunal lands as a collective right. It regards these lands as state-owned. They are alsoknown as Khas lands i.e. state lands, while the Forest Department categorizes these lands as Un-classed State Forests (USFs). The traditional land management system is not codified. The non-recognition of their traditional land management system in Bangladesh is one of the main causesbehind land dispossession of the indigenous peoples.

In the plains, the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950 is the law regulating landadministration in the plains, which forbids the transfer of lands owned by aboriginals to non-aboriginal persons without the express consent of the government’s district officer. The application ofthis Act, however, is unequal across the plains except in some parts of greater Mymensigh district. Itis less institutionalised in Dinajpur district, and not in Rajshahi district. There are also widespreadreports of non-implementation of this Act, which leads to illegal encroachment by Bengali settlers andalso by the government for its various development programmes.12

In north-west region of the country, the indigenous peoples have lost their land as governmentadministration listed the traditional land of the indigenous peoples as Khas land. In June 2005, forexample, government officials destroyed 65 houses of the Santals and other indigenous familiesin Parbatipur in Dinajpur district to evict them from their traditional lands. No compensation waspaid. The government also undertook to extract coal in Fulbari of Dinajpur district in 2006. JatiyaAdivasi Parishad also claims that more than 76 villages of the Santal and Oraon ethniccommunities will be evicted if the project is implemented. The project will also cause severeenvironmental damage to the area.

Among the large-scale programmes that have affected indigenous peoples in the plains were thecommercial forestry projects undertaken by the Forest Department with financial support fromthe Asian Development Bank (ADB). For example, a large number of indigenous Mandi andKoch peoples were evicted from their lands in Madhupur forest area within the Mymensingh andTangail districts for the creation of rubber plantations. It is the common allegation of all theKhasis that miscreants often rob (check this?) their valuable timbers from betel leaf garden anddamage betel leaf plants. The conflict over land use between Bengali and Khasis often led to theeviction of Khasis from their punjies by means of criminal force, criminal intimidation andphysical assault.

It is witnessed that in Moulvibazar district, more than 1,000 families of indigenous Khasi peoplehave been facing threats of eviction from their ancestral homeland by a government project calledEco-parks initiated in 2001. A similar project has been taken up in the area inhabited by Garosleading to the eviction 20,000 Garos in Madhupur forest in 2003. In 2004, Garo youth leaderPiren Snal, and more recently Chales Ritchil (in 2007), were killed in Madhupur forest forprotesting against the establishment of the eco-park. In 2000, a Santal leader, Alfred Soren, waskilled by land grabbers in Naogaon district. No justice has been received in any of these cases.

In 1960, for example, the Kaptai Dam in CHT flooded the lands and homes of thousands ofindigenous Jumma people and even today many of them remain un-rehabilitated. In addition, dueto state-sponsored migration of Bengali settlers in CHT started since 1979, the indigenous Jummapeoples have lost their lands. Since no cultivable land was vacant or available for settlement, thesettlers occupied the land of indigenous Jumma people.

Although CHT Accord provides land disputes to be resolved through a Land Commission, thefunction of Land Commission is yet to begin for the last ten years since the Accord was signed.

12 Roy, 2006

16

Mr. Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, Chairman of the CHT Regional Council (CHTRC) andMember of the CHT Land Commission has said that only one meeting of Land Commission washeld on 8 June 2005, and that not a single land dispute has yet to be resolved. On the other hand,the government passed the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act in 2001 withoutconsulting the CHTRC. As a result, so many provisions crept into the Act which werecontradictory to the CHT Accord and detrimental to the interest of the Jumma people. Section7(5) of the Act, for example, states that ‘... if no consensus is reached, the decision of theChairman alone shall be considered as the decision of the Commission.’ In empowering itsChairman with such dictatorial power, it will make the Commission an undemocratic institution.Though the government agreed to amend the Act in accordance with CHT Accord, it has yet to beexecuted.

One of the major causes of traditional lands bbeing lost by the indigenous peoples in CHT is theleasing out of vast lands to non-residents for commercial purposes such as rubber plantations,afforestation and land acquisition for military purpose. The Movement for Protection of LandRights and Forest claims that in Bandarban district in the CHT, 40,077 acres of land were leasedto outsiders, who are basically political leaders, military and civil officials and businessmen.Moreover, a total 94,066 acres of land for so-called afforestation and 75,686 acres for a militarybase have already been acquired in Bandarban district earlier. Indigenous peoples includingKhyang and Mro ethnic groups, the smallest and most deprived and disadvantaged Jumma groupin the CHT, are on the verge of total eviction from their ancestral land where they have beenliving and cultivating Jum from generations ago.

For example, recently in March 2007, the Ruma cantonment authority ordered the indigenouspeoples to leave the area as they had acquired about 7,500 acres of ancestral land for theexpansion of Ruma garrison. More than 4,000 indigenous families, mostly belonging to the Mrocommunity, will loose their land due to this acquisition.13 Mro leaders requesting not to be namedhave claimed that the local people have not been consulted before the land was acquired.

Hill Watch, a group working on the promotion of human rights in the CHT complained in theirreport in August 2007 that military forces deployed in the CHT took advantage of the State ofEmergency imposed on 12 January and resumed the settlement programme of Bengali settlersinto the lands of Jumma people, especially in Khagrachari. For example, one of the affectedvillagers of this recent drive, Mr. Prithwiraj Chakma of Kantkupya village in Khagrachari sadarsub-district, informed us that in July 2007, government forces settled at least 200 families ofBengali settlers at Dantkupya village, evicting 12 families of indigenous people from theirtraditional land at the same time. With the aim of providing security to the settler families, themilitary forces set up a camp at this Dantkupya village on 8 March 2007.

2.4.Socio/Cultural Status

The indigenous people in Bangladesh are different from the rest of the people of the Bangladeshin all respects, including socially, economically, politically, and culturally. The indigenous peoplemainly practice Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Animism as their religion. Each group hasits own distinct language, culture, religion and customs. The mainstream population know little ofthe indigenous cultures of the country and because of this they are ignorant of the ceremonies andrituals that the indigenous people celebrate. With the help of different organizations, likeBangladesh Adivasi Forum, Jatiyo Adivasi Parishad, Bangladesh Adivasi Odhiakar Andolan,Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD), the indigenous people are noworganizing various cultural events in the capital city and district towns.

13 The Daily Prothom Alo, 13 July 2007 reported by Ms. Kurratul –Ain-Tahmina

17

For example, Adivasi organizations now celebrate the International Day of the World IndigenousPeoples every year on 9th August and the Santal Upsurge Day on 30th June. But there is nogovernment initiative at all in this regard. On these occasions, different indigenous communitiescome together, share their happiness and express their demands in front of the mass population.Media coverage and attention of the civil society of these events are making the mass populationaware of the indigenous culture. These activities are very recent so the impact is still not visiblyeffective.

Indigenous peoples are susceptible to crises of cultural and social identity. They are losing theirown heritage, which threaten their sustainability. They are slowly and steadily losing theirlanguage, culture, customs and music. Indigenous peoples are rarely able to influence nationaldecisions that affect them.14 Even indigenous names of places in indigenous-inhabited areas havebeen changed to Bengali names.

The culture of the indigenous peoples was also regarded as inferior. Mr. Babul Rabidas, anindigenous lawyer of Joypurhat district court said that in north-western Bangladesh, the socialdiscrimination faced by indigenous people is so severe that many ethnic Bengalis refuse to servefood and drinks to indigenous persons in rural hotels and restaurants. The Social Science textbook for 4th and 5th grade students published by the National Curriculum and Text Book Board(NCTBB) inform readers that indigenous peoples lead backward lifestyles, eat whatever they findhere and there, live in forests, and and that the diet of Santals, Garos and Marmas consist ofanimal products mostly. Indigenous peoples contested this discriminatory portrayal ofthemselves. Mr. Sanjeeb Drong, General Secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum said that thisissue was taken to the NCTBB for rectification; however, till today no attempt has been taken tochange the information in the textbooks. Futhermore, in Bangla Pedia published in 2003 by theAsiatic Society, the different indigenous peoples were described in a derogatory manner.

In the CHT, indigenous peoples have been peacefully co-existing with each other applying anddeveloping their traditional socio-economic-cultural and political system under the framework of theirtraditional Jum economy. Jum Cultivation was not only a mode of cultivation but constituted the coreof the cultural values of the indigenous people in CHT which over a period of time became their wayof life. The indigenous people in the CHT are more familiar and comfortable with the traditionaladministrative system and it is this system that forms the basis for decision making at the local levelswithin communities. This system still remains as the most common way of resolving disputes andconflicts within the community.

Traditionally, the Circle Chiefs and the Headmen have been discharging their duties andfunctions according to customs and traditions (partially recognized by the CHT Regulation of1900 enacted by the then British government). Among the important duties and responsibilities ofthe Headmen are collection of land tax, providing recommendation for distribution and settlementof land, maintenance of land records, preservation and maintenance of community forestresources, and settlement of social disputes in accordance with the indigenous peoples’ customarylaws. The responsibility of land settlement and land management is primarily vested with theHeadmen.

Traditionally the common lands are those, which belong to the indigenous community withshared rights of access. Jum lands fall within this category, as do the lands used for orchards,grazing and for growing sun-grass (used to make thatched roofs). The forests are also includedwithin this category of mouza commons, and are the common property of the indigenouscommunity with equal rights of access, use and extraction. Traditionally no taxes were levied forthe use of these lands. The government however does not formally recognize the rights of theindigenous people to the common lands as a collective right.


18

Nevertheless, the CHT Regulation recognizes some of the rights of the indigenous peoples tooccupation and extraction in the common lands, although taxes are levied for some extractiveactivities. The indigenous people also have qualified rights to homestead lands, the extraction ofsun-grass, the right to herd, and the rights to Jum. Due to the non-recognition of the customarylaws of the indigenous peoples by the Court, they are losing their land day by day.

2.5.Educational Status

Indigenous peoples mainly live in isolated areas, outside the mainstream of national economiesand development support. The areas they inhabit are even more likely to lack basic infrastructuresuch as roads, markets, schools and health facilities. Indigenous peoples also enjoy feweropportunities in education and skills development compared to their mainstream counterparts. Asa result, the illiteracy rate among them is very high. Furthermore, the existing regulations on theestablishment of schools do not take into consideration the dispersed and remote nature of theirsettlements, particularly in the CHT.15 There is no information from the government side on theeducational status of the plain land indigenous peoples. Below are some of the literacy ratesobtained from NGO surveys.

SL. Community Literacy rate1. Santal 22%16

2. Koch 17%17

3. Mahali 25%18

4. Buno (Bagdi) 7%19

5. Rajbongshi 14%20

The majority of indigenous children usually attend NGO-run or private schools. Among theGaros and Khasi, the indigenous children mainly attend Christian Missionary Schools. Theprimary enrolment rate is 12.5 per cent. The 2001 census does not provide information regardingthe indigenous population because there were no columns in the survey format for includinginformation on indigenous issues.21

There is little or no information available on the status of education in CHT. National surveys likethe ‘62-village study’ conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) andthe ‘Assessment of Basic Competencies’ conducted by BRAC bypassed the CHT. However it is afact that the literacy rate in the CHT lags behind the national rate, and that the levels of educationin the CHT are very low. The status of women’s education is even lower. Seven out of every tenwomen in the CHT have received virtually no education.22 In some cases, education for girls isnot encouraged. Fewer girls than boys are attending school, and girls drop out at an earlier agethan boys.23 The study shows that the literacy rate, of the children aged 11-12, varied significantlyaccording to ethnicity. In a study conducted by Mohammad Rafi and A Mushtaque R.Chowdhury in some villages in the CHT, the literacy rate was found to be highest among the


16 A study conducted by an NGO, Research and Development Collective (RDC), “Baseline Survey onIndigenous Peoples in North-west Bangladesh”, November 2000

17 ibid18 ibid19 Source- Bhumija, a local NGO working in the South-west region20 ibid21 Situational Analysis for Mainstreaming Indigenous Children’s Education PEDP-II22 Gender Profile: The Chittagong Hill Tracts, CHTDF-UNDP 200523 CHT Livelihood Security Assessment Report, CARE-Bangladesh, Sutter, Phil, 2000

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Chakmas (37.7per cent) and lowest in the Mros (only 3.2 per cent). The following literacy ratesamong children are also shown in this study, 24 though this data does not reflect whole picture ofindigenous peoples in the CHT:

Community Literacy RateChakma 36.2%Marma 26.6%

Mro 2.9%Tripura 18.5%

It was observed that only one in five villages had primary level schools in the CHT. In contrast, atthe national level, there are two schools for every three villages. Thus it can be concluded thatchildren in the CHT have less opportunity for education compared to children in the rest ofBangladesh. At the primary level, the net enrolment rate was 56 per cent in CHT, whereas it was77.1 per cent in the entire country. Again, gross enrolment ratio was 64.2 per cent in CHT asagainst 107 per cent in the whole of Bangladesh. Even in the case of the literacy rate, of thechildren aged 11-12, the CHT lags behind the rest of the country.25 The turbulent situation duringarmed conflict disturbed the smooth functioning of educational activities in the CHT. Even afterthe signing of the Peace Accord, the situation is almost the same due to non-implementation ofthe Accord. These realities have contributed to the present educational status of the region andalso its variation from the rest of the country.

Having to study in the national Bengali language – which is not the mother tongue of theindigenous peoples – is known to lead to learning difficulties. The Constitution of Bangladeshalso stresses the importance of advancing the ‘backward’ society with special arrangements.26 Mr.Mesbah Kamal, Associate Professor of Dhaka University suggests that all the indigenouscommunities have the right to be educated in their own mother tongue other than Bengali, at leastat the primary level for their proper development. This will enhance their ability to learn. In thisway they will also achieve one of their basic needs. Moreover, the CHT Accord of 1997 providesfor the introduction of primary education in the languages of the indigenous peoples, but concretemeasures to reform the school curricula are yet to be taken. No similar arrangements have beenproposed for the plains. These omissions are contrary to the provisions of the ILO ConventionNo. 107 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both ratified by Bangladesh.27 Thesituation is still the same today despite the increasing demand at the national level as a result ofvarious awareness programs.

Mr. Mangal Kumar Chakma, an indigenous rights activist, said that the high drop-out rate ofindigenous children is one of the crucial barriers to education for indigenous peoples. In mostcases, the language barrier, acute poverty, non-synchronisation of the school calendar to workseasons like the Jum season, the long distances of schools from the homes, the lack of awarenessamong guardians, etc. are the main causes behind the high drop-out rate among indigenouschildren from primary and secondary levels. Dr. Sadeka Halim, who conducted a study onindigenous peoples, said that in the CHT, the nearest primary, secondary and higher secondaryschools were located 2.5, 5.7 and 16.3 miles away from the home villages respectively.

In the fields of higher education, the scenario is also unsatisfactory. Under the provisions of theconstitution, the government undertakes some affirmative actions in favour of indigenous peoples

24 Counting the Hills, Assessing Development in Chittagong Hill Tracts, edited Mohammad Rafi and AMushtaque R. Chowdhury, UPL, 200125 Ibid26 Article 24 (4), Constitution of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh27 An assessment of the United Nations First International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 1995-

2004, conducted by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal in 2006.

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including quota reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. However, thegovernment does not have any written policy of quota reservation. With regard to highereducation, the public universities in Bangladesh do not have any clear policy in admittingindigenous students. Dr. Sadeka Halim, Professor of Dhaka University, said that the passing markof the Multi-Choice Question (MCQ) test of Dhaka University is 40. The majority of indigenousstudents, particularly those from the small disadvantaged ethnic groups, are not in anadvantageous situation and thus fail to get admitted. Most of the indigenous students respondedthat the public universities are yet to be sensitive to having students from different indigenousethnic groups and to develop liberal policies to provide admissions for them. The situation ofindigenous women in this regard is more vulnerable. The absence of constructive policies in theuniversities is affecting the indigenous women more than men as they are more discriminatedagainst.28 In addition to that, no measure has been taken on the part of the government to providescholarship to the indigenous students for higher education and research studies in foreigncountries.

2.6.Indigenous Women

Disaggregated data on indigenous women is not available in the country. However, it is widelyaccepted that indigenous women are most vulnerable section of the indigenous society.Indigenous women are traditionally considered as occupying a lower socio-economic andpolitical standing than their men, and they are encountering various forms of human rightsviolation. Indigenous women’s status is low in terms of the rights to inheritance, legal andpolitical rights, decision-making powers and other spheres. Indigenous women, except Garo andKhasi women of matrilineal communities, have no rights to inheritance to property.

Dr. Meghna Guhathakurta, Executive Director of Research Initiatives Bangladesh, explains theirsituation. The Bengali population has a stereotypical image of the indigenous women – that theyare promiscuous. This kind of thought is one of the main reasons of the discriminatory andinhuman attitudes towards indigenous women that make them justify their actions. The colorfulattires of the indigenous women are regarded as indecent by the mainstream Bengali population.This often elicits verbal and sometimes physical harassment and abuse in extreme circumstances.Indigenous women are now changing their dress, which is conform more to Bengali and Muslimsense of propriety and decency.29 All the changes of rituals and attires in the CHT and in theplains are due to the strong presence of dominant Muslim and Bengali culture in the country.30

The education levels of the indigenous women are far from satisfactory. It is evident thatindigenous communities fall behind the Bengali population in education; the indigenous womenare weaker in this category. The gross enrollment ratios for boys were higher than those of girlsin all the indigenous peoples. A survey revealed that the adult literacy rate for peoples’ of CHT(Bengali, Chakma, Marma, Tripura and Mro) were 42 per cent for males and 20 per cent forfemales.31 These prove that indigenous women are not being able to empower themselves, thoughmany organizations in the indigenous inhabited areas are working particularly for women. Theindigenous women need to raise their voice against discrimination and they should work with

28 Ibid29 Halim, Sadeka. 2007 “Situation of Indigenous Women and ILO Convention on Discrimination”30 Roy, Raja Devasish and Sadeka Halim, 2007 Population Transfer & Ethnic Conflict in the Chittagong Hill

Tracts, Bangladesh, NCCR-North-South IP 7 SUB-Project 2, Indigenous Communities and Settlers: ResourceConflicts in Frontier Regions of South and Southeast Asia, Department of Social Anthropology, University ofZurich, (unpublished)

31 BRAC Research and Evaluation Division, 1999. Socio-economic and Health Profile of Chittagong HillTracts, August 1999

21

their male counterparts to change their deteriorating situations, opines Ms. Pabitra Manda.32

Indigenous women lack proactive participation in politics and other decision making platforms.For example, there is no female member in the three interim HDCs, though the institutions aredemocratic and works hard for the deprived Jumma community in the CHT.

The human rights situation in the CHT was especially bad during the years when armed strugglewas going on. Jumma women constituted the most vulnerable section of the Jumma people andwere exposed to various forms of violence, including relocation programmes, military operation,molestation, assault, rape and kidnapping.

In addition, women in the CHT were also exposed to other forms of violence such as domesticviolence, sexual harassment by Bengali settlers, displacement by various developmentprogrammes etc. They are victims not only of repression and negligence for centuries, but also ofviolence like rape, kidnap and murder by the mainstream Bengali people. Rampant violation ofwomen’s human rights takes place not only within a home or in public but in police custody aswell. According to BLAST, a human rights organization in Bangladesh, after the horrific incidentof Maischari in Mahalchari sub-district, the police refused to file a case for the raped women.Instead, they arrested the injured Jumma victims who were admitted in the hospital then. Mr.Masud Rumee, Assistant Coordinator of Investigation at BLAST, said that BLAST helped to bailout the victims.

One women rights activist in CHT, requesting not to be named, is of the opinion that besides theviolence against women by the military forces, Jumma women are under risk of sexual assaultfrom Bengali settlers, forest guards and the growing numbers of drug and alcohol abusers. Thoseindigenous women who come to the market to sell their products are facing difficulties. Unlike inthe plains region, rural indigenous Jumma women are used to marketing their productsindependently of their male partners and relatives. However, Bengali settlers and traders arehampering this age-old tradition and rights to sell their produce due to violence againstindigenous women. Moreover, the indigenous women are encountering severe economic hardshipdue to poverty, dislocation, loss of forestland and globalization. For example, as a result ofpoverty, dislocation, and loss of forest land to the state, Garo women were induced to migrate tothe city to work in the beauty parlors and as domestic help.33 Again the Khasi women, whotraditionally sold betel leaf for centuries, are now being deprived of getting the actual marketvalue for betel leaves due to their non-access to the market directly. The whole marketing processis controlled by the non-indigenous Bengali middlemen in such a manner that Khasis are boundto sell their products to these middlemen at very low prices.34

The aforesaid women rights activist also mentioned that many indigenous women had beenkidnapped, forcibly converted to Islam and married. An indigenous woman who refused to beconverted and married was murdered. Generally, the indigenous women move freely and are notbound by the same cultural and religious impositions that restrict the freedom of movement ofBengali Muslim women. These cultural differences combined with the military presence and theincreasing domination of Bengali Muslim culture have made the indigenous women moreexposed to sexual attacks by the Bengali settlers. Abduction and forced marriage of indigenouswoman is a process of assimilation where it is used as mechanism of state oppression. This is away to change the ethnic composition of the targeted community.

Referring to internally displaced persons who are yet to be rehabilitated in the CHT, Dr.Guhatharatha said that internally displaced women face more difficulties as they have to suffer

32 interview with Ms. Pabitra Manda, General Secretary, Garo Indigenous Michik Association33 Asfia Gulrukh, Ethnicity and Migration: The Case of Mandi Beauty Workers, Department of Women’s

Studies,(2004) University of Dhaka34 Mizanur Rahman, Combating the Khasi Uprooting: Humanity Cries, Empowerment through Law of the

Common People (ELCOP), Dhaka (2004)

22

more than men and their household system have become uncertain. Indigenous women arecontributing tremendously to their economy through their handloom works as well as agriculturalactivities. They are sustaining the indigenous cultures. Indigenous women are however vulnerableboth in their communities and in the Bengali community. Many women are deprived of their duerights in indigenous communities, especially with regard to legal rights, such as in inheritance.The Bengali community also has a stereotypical image of indigenous women that they arepromiscuous.

One of the leaders of the CHT Women Association expressed that due to the non-implementationof the CHT Accord, Jumma women are still not safe. Rape and kidnapping, in particular, by botharmed forces personnel and Bengali settlers, are regularly reported. From 1998 to 2006, thesecurity forces and Bengali settlers have raped 36 women, molested 13 women, kidnapped 9women and tortured more than 25 women.35 Many of the incidents were reported in leadingnational dailies but none of the accused were punished. At times the culprits go unpunished evenwhen they are identified by the victims or the witnesses. For example, on 3 April 2006 inKhagrachari district, in a communal attack on indigenous Jumma peoples at Nua Para andJoysenpara villages in Maischari, four indigenous Marma women were raped by Bengali settlersand security forces allegedly led by Ahad Mian, a member of the local Union Council andMohammad Abu, an ex-Union Parishad member. Two of the rape victims were Marma girls aged16 and 20.36

Indigenous women face serious violation of human rights, insecurity, harassment, threats and soon in their daily life. When indigenous women and girls migrate to the cities to look for jobs, theyface insecurity and sexual harassment in their working place such as beauty parlors, houses,factories etc.

On 19 July 2007, a Jumma female worker in the Chittagong EPZ area was gang raped by 4 or 5Bengali Muslims. The Bengali men accused her of being involved in immoral activities with herhill friends when she was visiting a friend in dui number mile area of Bandar Thana. The Bengaligate-keeper of the house, along with his friends, forcefully locked the hill men in a room andraped the girl. A rape case was filed in the nearby police station. The victim is an inhabitant ofSijokdor village of Baghaichori Upazilla of Rangamati37. In the plains area, Bengali Muslimmiscreants killed a Garo women leader Gidita Rema in 2001 in the Modhupur forest. She wasvocal in protecting their lands from Bengali Muslims. Before killing her, the Bengalis abductedher younger sister Namrata Rema and raped her. Cases were filed against the killers, but still nojustice has been accorded. This is an example of an extreme event; very little information isavailable about these kinds of incidents as the indigenous people are most times afraid to take anyaction against the Bengalis.

The indigenous women lag behind their male counterparts in politics as well as politicalorganizations. In both types of the political organizations, the indigenous and the state’s politicalstructures, the indigenous women are excluded from important roles. For example, over the pastcenturies only 10 out of the 384 headmen were women in the CHT.38 Politically the indigenouswomen are marginalized; they merely represent women’s interest in the political agenda. Eventhe matrilineal Khasi and Garo community are no exceptions. The majority of the Montri39 in

35 PCJSS webpage: www.pcjss.org36 http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2006/119-06.htm37 The Daily Prothom Alo, 21 July 2007, pg. 338 Oishwarja Chakma (2004), Situationer on Indigenous Women of Bangladesh, in the proceedings of 2nd Asian

Indigenous Women’s Conference, Heightening Asian Indigenous Women’s Empowerment and Solidarity,March 4-8, Philippines.

39 Montri: Traditonal head of a Punji (like mouza head in CHT)

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Khasi and Nokhma40 in Garo are male. From the 45 indigenous groups no one so far has beendirectly elected the member of the Parliament. Only Ms. Malati Tanchangya from CHT regionand Ms Ethin from Cox’s Bazaar in 1980s and 1990s had the privilege to capture a seat in theParliament as a selected member. However, some indigenous women in both CHT and in theplains got directly elected in the lower tier of the administration, such as the Union Parishads. Olya few women have become Municipality Commissioners in greater Mymensingh district and theCHT region.41

2.7.Indigenous Children

Although the Government of Bangladesh has ratified the International Convention on the Rightsof the Child, the situation of children has not improved in general. In addition, the Government ofBangladesh also formulated the National Child Policy in 1994, but it was not linked to thenational budget. Moreover, there is no single mention about indigenous children in the NationalChild Policy. In fact, indigenous children are deprived of education, health-care, nutrition andother basic needs of livelihood. They are experiencing double discrimination – as children and asethnic minorities.

As mentioned earlier, the infrastructure of the hills and also the plains where indigenous peoplelive is not satisfactory. As a result, the students are reluctant to go to schools. Again, thesechildren also help their families in various jobs such as farming, weeding and household work.Their school calendar and schedule is actually a hindrance to their household work. RajaDevasish Roy, Chakma Circle Chief, said that many of the children are engaged as house servantsin the CHT region; and they are well-fed in these houses. As a result, they do not want to go toschool. The girl children provide great help to their families, such that the parents unwilling tosend them to schools.

One of the leaders of Pahari Chatra Parishad (PCP) said that drug addiction among the indigenouschildren and youth is one of the growing issues in CHT. Large numbers of drug addictedindigenous children are found in three hill districts of CHT. They have been basically targeted bydrug smugglers. PCP believed that CHT is being used as route for the smuggling of heroine,alcohol, ganja and other drugs. However, the administration takes a passive stance against thedrug smugglers. He also mentioned that PCP, under the programme against drug, suppliedinformation on smugglers’ route and places to the police. But the police have not taken any actionagainst the smugglers. The PCP leader expressed that the main reason for the government forcesto maintaining its passive role is to destroy the backbone of the younger generation of theindigenous peoples by encouraging their drug addiction indirectly. He also added that in somecases, the military forces provided money to some youths and children to enjoy themselves. Thisis for no reason than to encourage indigenous children and youth to be addicted to drugs.

Indigenous activists responded that indigenous Jumma children have been victims of torture, rapeand other sexual abuses at the hands of the security forces and the illegal plains settlers. On 23January 2005, a 9-year-old boy named Bandachya Chakma, son of Pagana Khulo Chakma ofDojar area was sexually abused by army personnel. The victim and his friend had gone to theforest to collect forest products when the army personnel encountered them. The accused sent the

40 Kokhma: Triditional head of a village (like Karbari in CHT)41 Sadeka Halim , Situation of Garo Women: Some Observations, in Indigenous People have the right to

territory, land and resources, Solidarity, 2006 and Situation of Indigenous Women and ILO Convention onDiscrimination, Solidarity 2007, Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum, Dhaka, Bangladesh

24

victim's friend to buy him food, and sodomised the minor boy. Later, the accused gave a Taka 50note to the victim and told him not to disclose the matter.42

There are no juvenile correctional homes in the CHT and juvenile offenders are often put inprisons along with adults. On 6 August 2005, the army arrested two teenaged supporters ofUPDF, identified as Santo Chakma (14 years) and Iron Chakma (16 years), both from MachalongBaghaichhari upazila in Rangamati, and sent them to the Rangamati district jail. The armyclaimed that they were arrested during a raid in the Macholong forest area and sophisticated armsand ammunitions were recovered from them.43

42 http://www.jpnuk.org.uk/hr/hr2005.htm43 Two UPDF supporters arrested in Machalong, Human Rights Monitoring Cell, United People's Democratic

Front, 22 August 2005

25

CHAPTER 3

OVERVIEW OF HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION

OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

UNDER LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORK

Internationally, the Bangladeshi state has been vehemently criticized for its human rightsviolations, particularly in the indigenous CHT areas. The government of Bangladesh has noformal and detailed policy with regard to the indigenous peoples of the country, as it hasreservations on the recognition of its indigenous peoples. Apart from dispossession of landsthrough development and forestry projects, the most serious problems faced by indigenous peoplein Bangladesh include the limited access to education and other social services, discrimination atthe hands of non-indigenous people (including government functionaries) and the imposition ofother inappropriate and socially and economically destructive development projects.

The overall human rights situation of the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh is far from good.Compared to indigenous people in the plains regions, indigenous people in the CHT are in arelatively better position because of the presence of the semi-autonomous administrative systemthat includes the traditional indigenous institutions of chiefs, headmen and karbaris, Hill DistrictCouncils and Regional Council. Of course, unlike CHT, militarisation and massivetransmigration of Bengalis are not seen affecting the indigenous peoples of the plains.

3.1. Ratification and Implementation of International Treaties

Bangladesh has ratified most of the international human rights treaties including the ILOConvention 107 (1957) that guarantees indigenous and tribal peoples certain rights, such as theright to land, self-governance and development. In addition, it has endorsed the JohannesburgDeclaration on Sustainable Development that recognizes the “vital role of the indigenous peoplesin sustainable development” and the Economic and Social Council Resolution 2000/22 thatestablishes the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues with the mandate to adviseand recommend to the Economic and Social Council on six subjects: (1) Economic and SocialDevelopment, (2) Human Rights, (3) Culture, (4) Education, (5) Health and (6) Environment. Theinternational human rights treaties ratified by Bangladesh include, among others, the following:

Treaty Ratification

International Covenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights (CESCR),

05 January 1999

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR)

06 December 2000

International Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

11 July 1979

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms ofDiscrimination against Women (CEDAW)

06 December 1998

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Eliminationof Discrimination against Women (OPCEDAW)

22 December 2000

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman orDegrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)

04 November 1999

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 02 September 1990

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Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of theChild on the involvement of children in armed conflict(OP CRC AC)

12 February 2000

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of theChild on the sale of children, child prostitution and childpornography (OP CRC SC)

18 January 2000

International Convention on the Protection of the Rightsof All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families(ICRMW)

07 October 1998

ILO Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Populations(Convention No. 107 of 1957)

22 June 1972

ILO Convention on Discrimination (Employment andOccupation) (Convention no. 111 of 1958)

22 June 1972

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 03 May 1994

Bangladesh is legally bound to comply with these international human rights treaties. But it doesnot comply with them so far as the indigenous peoples are concerned. The treaties that are grosslyviolated by Bangladesh in the CHT are: The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT); International Covenant on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights (CESR); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR); and International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination(CERD).

For example, the UN Monitoring Committee on CEDAW examined the Bangladesh countryreport in 2004. In its concluding comments, the Committee on the Elimination of Discriminationagainst Women expressed its concerns that the Convention had yet to be incorporated intodomestic law and as such its provisions cannot be invoked before the courts. The Committeecalled upon Bangladesh to incorporate without delay the provisions of the Convention into itsdomestic law and requested Bangladesh to ensure that the provisions of the Convention be fullyreflected in the Constitution and all legislations.45

In contrast, the ILO Convention No. 107 contains several provisions that deal with indigenousand tribal peoples’ rights, including on land, recruitment and conditions of employment,vocational training, handicrafts and rural industries, social security and health, administration,education and means of communication.46 Many of the provisions of Bangladeshi law conformto the standards of Convention No. 107, several – especially in the plains – fall short of thesestandards while a few – such as on legislative prerogatives, customary laws and on self-government in the CHT – go beyond the provisions of Convention No. 107 and are more inconformity with the more progressive ILO Convention No. 169, and are comparable to theprovisions of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Human rights activists who have been interviewed said that the situation of implementation of theprovisions of the aforesaid treaties is far from good. In particular, the non-implementation ofvarious important provisions of the ILO Convention No. 107 is of particular concern since it isthe only human rights treaty with direct relevance to indigenous peoples that has been ratified byBangladesh. The ILO Convention includes matters on administration, land, education, vocational

45 Concluding comments of the Committee-CEDAW: Bangladesh. 18/08/2004. A/59/38(SUPP)paras.228-267.See: http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/A.59.38(SUPP)paras.228-267.En?Opendocument

46 The ILO Convention On Indigenous And Tribal Populations, 1957 and The Laws Of Bangladesh: AComparative Review by Raja Devasish Roy, July 2006.

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training, employment, mother tongue education, language rights, all of which are vital for thewelfare of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, especially in the plains regions, where there are fewor no legal and administrative provisions that address the rights and particular needs and concernsof indigenous peoples. Indigenous activists interviewed during the study are of opinion that mostcrucial issues, such as, collective and individual rights of indigenous people over landtraditionally occupied, children’s rights to be taught in their mother tongue, constitutionalrecognition of the indigenous peoples, etc. are yet to be implemented. In fact, children’s right tolearn in their mother tongue was included in the CHT Accord, but it is yet to be executed.

Another international treaty ratified by Bangladesh and relevant to its indigenous peoples is theConvention on Biological Diversity, which contains provisions on the protection of the traditionalknowledge systems and genetic resources of indigenous communities and measures for theirequitable utilization (Articles 8j and 10c). Unfortunately, most of the aforesaid provisions remainunimplemented or under-implemented, especially in the plains regions.

There are several factors behind the weak implementation of the aforesaid treaty provisions inBangladesh. First and foremost, under Bangladeshi law, international treaty-based rights are notdirectly enforceable in the courts of law. Secondly, the treaty-monitoring system, especially in thecase of the ILO Convention, is complicated, and provides no direct access to indigenous peoples.Thirdly, monitoring of the aforesaid processes by the indigenous peoples themselves and humanrights groups has not been conducted in a sustained and thorough manner. This itself is related tothe limited capacity and organizational strengths of indigenous and human rights organizations.These shortcomings need to be addressed by a combination of lobbying, advocacy and capacity-raising work within the treaty monitoring bodies, government agencies, indigenous peoples’institutions and human rights and civil society organizations.

The government is very much reluctant to implement international human rights mechanisms andconventions related to indigenous populations. The government ratified ILO Convention No. 107for Indigenous and Tribal populations in 1972, but not a single article has been implemented sofar. Most government officials do not seem aware of this Convention. In the CHT, the lack oftrust between government and indigenous hill peoples is the major challenge that needs to beovercome for the proper implementation of the CHT Peace Accord.

The Committee on ILO Convention 107 in its 2005 report stated that it has been examining thesituation in Bangladesh under this Convention for many years, against the background ofallegations of human rights abuses, large-scale migration into tribal areas by Bengali settlers fromother parts of Bangladesh, consequent displacement of tribal people from their traditional lands,and an armed insurgency by tribal militants – which was resolved by the Chittagong Hill TractsPeace Accord, 1997. The Government’s report arrived too late to be examined at the Committee’sprevious session, and therefore covers the period up to May 2003 only.47

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not have a particular provision for indigenouspeoples but this declaration has been translated in Bengali for dissemination by some other NGOsand the UN country office. The Draft declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has adirect bearing on indigenous peoples – including the right to self-determination, laws, traditionsand customs – but the government does not take any effective measure to implement them for theindigenous peoples.

Most indigenous rights activists are of the opinion that for the abovementioned matters, they needto be addressed by a combination of lobbying, advocacy and capacity-raising work within thetreaty monitoring bodies, government agencies, indigenous peoples’ institutions and human rightsand civil society organizations respectively.

47 CEACR: Individual Observation concerning Convention No. 107, Indigenous and Tribal Populations, 1957Bangladesh (ratification: 1972) Published: 2005

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In 2001, the Committee on CERD rewuested for disaggregated information on the economic andsocial status of all ethnic, religious and tribal minorities, as well as their participation in publiclife.48 But the Government of Bangladesh did not prepare disaggregated data on indigenouspeoples in 2001. The Committee on CERD also urged the Government of Bangladesh to intensifyits efforts to implement the CHT Peace Accord. However, since then no progress has been made.

The two prominent human rights organisations in Bangladesh, namely, Legal Aid and ServicesTrust (BLAST) and Odhikar are of the opinion that the government must ratify the internationalconventions that are for the indigenous population and that collective pressure on the governmentfrom the human rights organizations should be made to make sure the government execute thenon-implemented issues of the indigenous peoples.

3.2. Constitution and Specific Legislation for Indigenous Peoples

Article 27 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states that all citizens are equal before law and areentitled to equal protection of law. Article 28(1) outlaws discrimination on grounds of race,religion and place of birth and Article 28(4) states that nothing in this article shall prevent theState from making special provision in favour of women or children or for the advancement ofany backward section of citizens. Though the Constitution of Bangladesh does not directlymention the indigenous or tribal peoples, it is understood that the indigenous peoples form part ofthe disadvantaged part of the citizens, which the constitution terms ‘backward section of citizens’.As opined by the interviewees, it is widely recognized that indigenous peoples do not enjoy equaltreatment before the law and administration.

In addition, Article 29(2) of the Constitution states that nothing in this article shall prevent theState from: (a) making special provision in favour of any backward section of citizens for thepurpose of securing their adequate representation in the service of the Republic; (b)giving effectto any law which makes provision for reserving appointments relating to any religious ordenominational institution to persons of that religion or denomination; (c) reserving for membersof one sex any class of employment or office on the ground that it is considered by its nature tobe unsuited to members of the opposite sex. This provision provides the scope for affirmativeaction for indigenous peoples in the name of the ‘backward section of citizens’.

Under these provisions of the constitution, the government undertakes some affirmative actions infavour of indigenous peoples. Notable among these are:

setting up of a Special Affairs Division under the Prime Minister’s Office particularly forplains land indigenous peoples;

signing of the CHT Peace Accord with the PCJSS as a solution of the CHT problemthrough political and peaceful means and accordingly establishment of CHTRC andHDCs as special administrative arrangements for the CHT;

enactment of the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act of 2001;

amendment of CHT Regulation in 2003 for establishment of a separate district judgecourt in CHT;

inclusion of the term ‘adivasi’ and indigenous peoples’ issues in the Poverty ReductionStrategy Paper (PRSP);

continuing of quota reservation in the government jobs and educational institutions for‘tribal’ people, etc.

48 CERD/C/304/Add.118. (Concluding Observations/Comments), CERD/C/304/Add.118, 27 April 2001

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There are some ordinary laws that make specific reference to indigenous people. In the plains, theonly substantive law is the East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950 (at section 97),which forbids the transfer of lands owned by aboriginals to non-aboriginal persons without theexpress consent of the government’s district officer. This law – along with the special provisionson restrictions of transfer of aboriginal lands – is specially protected in the Constitution (Article47(2) and First Schedule), on account of administrative implications of legal challenges regardingcomplex land issues, rather than on account of the indigenous peoples.49

In contrast, the CHT has a far larger body of laws that refers directly to indigenous people. Someof these laws recognize indigenous peoples’ customs regarding the ownership and use of landsand other natural resources. The most important of such laws is the CHT Regulation of 1900.Other laws include the Hill District Council Acts of 1989, the CHT Regional Council Act of1998, the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act, 2001 and the CHT Regulation(Amendment) Act, 2003.

The CHTRC Act and three HDC Acts were passed after the signing of the CHT Peace Accord in1997, which provided a framework for the recognition and strengthening of the CHT self-government system and the customary resource rights of its aboriginal inhabitants. However,indigenous leaders of the CHT have opined that the main provisions of the Accord, such as thedevolution of powers to the CHTRC and HDCs, resolution of land disputes through LandCommission, rehabilitation of returnee Jumma refugees and internally Jumma displaced people,demilitarization of the region, etc. are yet to be implemented.

One national level indigenous leader said that indigenous issues had remained ignored for manydecades. With regard to the plains areas (as also the CHT), the only positive policy advanceworthy of mention is perhaps the adoption of the National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper(PRSP), adopted in October 2005. The document refers to the indigenous peoples as“Adivasi/Ethnic Minority”. Although the document’s implementation provisions do not containany detailed strategies on how to deal with the indigenous peoples’ poverty issues, the PRSPacknowledges the disadvantaged position of indigenous peoples and their exclusion from thedevelopment process, and more importantly, it refers to the “inadequate representation of[Adivasi/Ethnic Minorities] at various levels of government and policy processes”.50 However,one indigenous leader who participated in the PRSP consultation said that the PRSP has thepotential to be used as a major policy tool to advance the social and economic rights ofindigenous peoples through the formal ‘development’ process. In the long run, it can be invokedto also enhance Adivasi participation in the overall process of administration and governance aswell.

3.3. National Sectoral Policies and Indigenous Peoples

Government policy may also be understood from the national sectional policies and programmesof the government. With regard to other national sectoral policies, e.g., healthcare, education,employment, land administration etc. there seem to be no special measures that aim to address theproblems faced by indigenous communities, especially those living in remote areas, which arequite different from those faced in other places, and which cannot be resolved through the usualprogrammes that were designed with the Bengali-populated plains regions in mind.

49 An assessment of the United Nations First International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 1995-2004, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal

50 Unlocking the Potential: National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (PRSP), General EconomicsDivision, Planning Commission, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka, October 2005,Paragraph 5.405.

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With regard to healthcare and education programmes, the individuals are of the opinion that tensof thousands of indigenous people continue to be deprived of healthcare and education facilities.Therefore, in order to provide genuine equal access to indigenous peoples with regard tohealthcare, education, training, employment, etc. – as implicitly promised in the nationalconstitution – the sectoral policies need to provide for special measures without which there willbe no equal state facilities for these disadvantaged people. Interviewees are of opinion that in thecase of education policy, there is no provision for indigenous children to be introduced to mothertongue education at the primary level.

With regard to employment, there are reserved seats for certain jobs and seats in educationalinstitutions that are reserved for “tribals”. However, most of the interviewees expressed thatdetails regarding the process of administration of such reserved seats are either absent or notmade public.

With regard to land administration in plains Adivasi areas, separate policy directions are notknown about. However, in some parts of Mymensingh, and in parts of Dinajpur, the practice ofspecial restrictions on land transfers of aboriginals is present to some degree, but as opined by theinterviewees, this practice is not followed in other Adivasi-inhabited areas in the plains.51

With regard to the CHT, while the Hill District Councils (HDCs) in the CHT now have a role inadministering the small market centre lands, and in vetoing or allowing land transfers in otherparts of the CHT, it seems that the Government is not yet ready to devolve substantial landadministration authority to the HDCs.52 Similarly, the work of the CHT Land Commission, whichwas entrusted with providing quick remedies to land disputes in the CHT, is also yet to start itswork. It appears that the Government is not yet ready to amend the law establishing thecommission – the CHT Land Disputes Resolution Commission Act, 2001 – in accordance withthe CHT Accord of 1997, as asked for by the CHT Regional Council.53

One of the most crucial Acts affecting indigenous peoples in plains areas is the Vested PropertyAct, 1974. This Act is to deal with properties of people who went over to India. However, theindigenous rights activists expressed their grief that the Act has been indiscriminately usedagainst different minority ethnic group including indigenous peoples in the north-western regionand in north-central region of the country. The return of lands of indigenous peoples taken overby invoking the Vested Property Act is one of the 9-point demands of the Jatiya Adivasi Parishad,the main organisation of the indigenous peoples of the northwest region.

Though the indigenous peoples are not specially mentioned, but there are a number of other lawsare of direct relevance to the indigenous peoples’ land and resource rights. Among them, theForest Act of 1927 and the Social Forestry Rules of 2004 are most crucial. Various provisions ofthe Forest Act concern customary land rights of indigenous peoples and empower the governmentto assign to any village community the right of government to or over any land which has beenconstituted into a reserved forest. In some parts of Sylhet division, village communities of theKhasi people have secured short-term written agreements over use of reserved forest land.Communities of indigenous peoples in Mymensigh, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar continue to livewithin reserved forest areas, but no written agreements are known to have been entered into with.Their existence and livelihoods in these areas is therefore quite precarious. On the other, there isprovision in the Social Forestry Rules that the ethnic minorities (indigenous, tribal or aboriginal)are among those to be given priority in selection as beneficiaries of the project. But very

51 Study on Access to Justice for Indigenous Peoples of Bangladesh by Meghna Guhathakurta, Sara Hossain andDevasish Roy, submitted to UNDP Regional Centre, Bangkok, August 2006.

52 Land and Forest Right in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Talking Points 4/02, Raja Devasish Roy, ICIMOD(International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development), Kathmandu, 2002.

53 Migration, Land Alienation and Ethnic Conflict: Causes of Poverty in the Chittagong Hill Tracts ofBangladesh, Shapan Adnan, Research & Advisory Services, Dhaka, 2004 .

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consistently on the other, the government officials are given powers through which they couldcancel any body from the beneficiary list at any time.

3.4. Justice and Human Rights Situation

Recently, the present Caretaker Government of Bangladesh separated the Judiciary fromExecutive division of government. For this purpose, the government amended the Penal Code ofBangladesh and other necessary laws. However, the judges of lower court are still appointed bythe Judiciary. It will be a long process to fully separate it from the judicial service. At presentcivil service officials have been serving as judges of the lower court. On the other, theGovernment has appointed a Tax Ombudsman but no fruitful results has yet been yielded.

The government passed the CHT Regulation (Amendment) Act of 2003 (Act no 38 of 2003) tobring in major changes to the CHT Judicial system, including the transferring of civil andcriminal judicial authority. In spite of this, the CHT judicial service is still operated by theexecutive administrators i.e. Deputy Commissioners and District Magistrates of the three hilldistricts who are not free from bias administratively or from interference by the military. Hence,as most of the interviewees opined, the judicial section could not play a positive role inhighlighting and upholding the rights of indigenous peoples.

On the other, the proposed National Human Rights Commission is still to be established.Indigenous peoples are not in a position to provide a legal challenge until and unless the aforesaidindependent bodies are created.

National human rights activists working on indigenous issues have said that indigenous peoplesare often unable to protect themselves against social, political and economic injustices. They facea real threat in exercising their basic rights and surviving as communities. These and other majorproblems faced by the indigenous peoples continue to be neglected by succeeding governmentsand are worsened on account of the very limited participation of plains indigenous peoples inmajor decision-making processes.

Most of the gross human rights violation on indigenous peoples, for example, the eviction of theindigenous peoples in the name of the establishment of the Madhupur Eco-park and MuroicharaMadhabkunda Eco-park in 2000-2001, the brutal killing of Piren Snal by the police and forestguards during the movement against the so-called eco-park in 2000, the communal attack on 14indigenous villages in Mahalchari in 2003, etc. have not been brought under judicial enquiry.

The situation faced by many indigenous women, children and youth in Bangladesh is critical dueto ongoing militarization and exploitation of natural resources on our ancestral lands. Humanrights violations including violence against Jumma women by the military continue unabated inthe CHT until today. De facto military rule continues in the CHT based upon a secret governmentorder known as ‘Operation Uttoran’ (Operation Upliftment). In September 2001, this orderreplaced the earlier order known as ‘Operation Dabanal’ (Operation Wildfire) imposed in theCHT during the conflict period (1973-1997). Military interference with and dominance overgeneral civil administration, indigenous social affairs, forest resources, etc. continue.

For instance, in August 2003, more than 350 houses of indigenous Jummas in 14 villages withinMahalchari sub-district were burnt, Buddhist temples and statues of Lord Buddha were destroyed,and two people, including one eight-month old child, were killed and 10 Jumma women wereraped. All this happened within a few hours and was led by uniformed and armed soldiers of theBangladesh military (21 East Bengal Regiment) and included Bengali settlers. This is very ironic,as Bangladesh now is the biggest contributor to the international UN Peacekeeping force.Moreover, Lt. Col. Abdul Awal, the concerned Zone Commander, had returned to Bangladeshafter completing UN peace-keeping duties abroad. Indigenous peoples demanded to thegovernment to conduct an impartial and independent inquiry into this communal attack and to

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take speedy action against the perpetrators of crime. However, the government has not taken anysteps in this regard.54

The present Caretaker Government of Bangladesh imposes the State of Emergency in the countryamid conflict political situation on 11 January 2007. Under the state of emergency, the JointForces led by the army are conducting a drive against the corrupt politicians, businessmen andgodfathers. As part of this drive, a few godfathers and corrupt leaders of last four-party alliancegovernment including Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, the most wanted godfather in Khagrachari district,have also been arrested in CHT. However the military forces have been using the state ofemergency with a different motive in case of indigenous peoples in CHT. Basically it has beenused to suppress the voice of indigenous Jumma people of CHT.

Hill Watch Human Rights Cell claims that by taking the advantage of the state of the emergency,the military forces have increased their suppressive actions against the indigenous Jumma peoplein the CHT. Particularly the military forces have targeted the Jumma activists including membersof the PCJSS and UPDF and their front organisations. The indigenous activists have falsely beencharged in connection with terrorist activities. To materialise their allegation, the Joint Forceshave been showing arm recovery from arrestees' possession putting their (army) arm and lodgingfalse arm case against them.55

Kapaeeng Watch, for instance, claims that Mr Satyabir Dewan (General Secretary of PCJSS) andRanglai Mro (a land rights activist and leader of Mro community as well as elected UPChairman) were arrested under false charges in February 2007. Mr Satyabir Dewan, a seniorPCJSS leader, has been tortured mentally while in custody. Mr Ranglai Mro, however, hasbrutally tortured by the joint forces for being vocal against the military land occupation in hisregion and the systematic eviction of the Mro indigenous community from their ancestral land.The court awarded 17 years imprisonment to both Satyabir Dewan and Ranglai Mro in May andJune 2007 respectively, in the false arms cases.56

Kapaeeng Watch claims in its report circulated in August 2007 that since the declaration of theState of Emergency, 2 indigenous youths and more than 50 indigenous activists have beenarrested in the CHT only.57 In most cases, they have been falsely charged in connection withkeeping illegal arms, killing, kidnapping and extortion and cases against them have been filedunder section 16(b) of Emergency Power Rules of 2007. Section 16(b) states that ‘regardless ofwhatever is stated in sections 497 and 498 of the Criminal Procedure Code or any other law, anaccused under the Emergency Powers Ordinance will not be released on bail during the enquiry,investigation and trial of the case against that person’. This ’No Bail Rules’ is an example of howthe present Caretaker Government has assumed the role of the judge and jury in clear violationsof the internationally accepted cardinal principles of administration of criminal justice andsubsumed the role of the judiciary.

On the other, on 18 March 2007, Mr Choles Ritchil (a potential indigenous leader) was arrestedand then killed by a group of Joint Forces led by the army at Kalibari under Muktagacha Upozila.Mr Ritchil was coming from Mymensingh town in a microbus accompanied by 3 indigenouspersons namely Mr Piren Simsang, Mr Tuhin Hadima and Mr Protab Jamble. The security forcestook them to nearby Khakraid army camp at about 2:00 pm. According to the eye-witnesses(names withheld for security reasons), the Joint Forces personnel used pliers to press the testiclesof Mr. Choles Ritchil and put needle on his fingers. They poured hot water into his nostrils. Hewas then hanged upside down and brutally tortured. He vomited blood again and again and

54 Intervention by Ina Hume, a human rights activist to the 4th Session of United Nations Permanent Forum onIndigenous Issues held at UN Headquarters in New York in May 2005.

55http://www.jummonet.blogspot.com, http://www.jummonet.wordpress.com

56 E-report on CHT Situation circulated by Kapaeeng Watch in August 200757 Ibid

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fainted many times. Some of those who tortured Mr Chales Ritchil were identified as WarrantOfficer Jamal, 2nd Lt. Minhaj, Sergeant Shahadat and Major Toufiq Elahi. On 20 March 2007,Choles Ritchil’s wife Sandha Simsang had filed a complaint at the Modhupur Police Station butas of 2 April 2007, Modhupur police station has not registered any case.58

58 http://www.achrweb.org

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CHAPTER 4

ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

AND AGENCIES

Though several international organisations and agencies including UN specialised agencies havetheir own policies of engagement with indigenous peoples, in most cases however, as theinterviewees’ have commented, they did not follow their policies when they undertookdevelopment projects in the territory of indigenous peoples. They do not even try to incorporateindigenous peoples’ perspectives in their development initiatives. For example, the ADBorganised consultations on the formulation of the ADB Country Development Strategy Paper(CSP) for Bangladesh in 2003. But, the indigenous peoples have not been involved properly inthese consultations. It is only the Danish Government, which followed its strategy paper withregard to indigenous peoples. The Human Rights and Good Governance HRGG Programme ofDANIDA organised consultations for formulating its five-year long programme on indigenouspeoples of Bangladesh in 2003, where indigenous peoples were appropriately consulted. TheRoyal Danish Government’s development agency, DANIDA, has been among the strongestsupporters of the peace process in the CHT.

UNDP also undertakes a project titled ‘Promotion of Development and Confidence-building inthe Chittagong Hill Tracts’ aiming at (a) facilitating the resumption of substantial internationaldevelopment assistance to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) which was suspended in February2001 as a result of a serious kidnapping incident in the CHT and (b) supporting the formulationand start-up of a multi-sectoral Development Support Programme in the CHT which is funded byUNDP and other donor institutions. The first objective is promoted by the creation of a CHTDevelopment Facility with modest offices in Dhaka and Rangamati, while the second objective ispursued by the elaboration of various project initiatives aimed at (i) institution-building support toall relevant CHT institutions, (ii) community development pilot schemes at the grass-roots levelin the CHT, and (iii) confidence building measures to strengthen communal harmony andcooperation in the CHT.59

But the project has created controversy on whether it is consistent with the CHT Accord of 1997and the UNDP’s policy on indigenous peoples. The project has included outsider Bengali settlers(transmigrated population in order to make the indigenous Jumma people a minority in their ownhomeland) as target beneficiaries. The participation of Jumma peoples and their local institutionshave not been ensured and indigenous peoples’ perspectives have not been incorporated into theplanning and decision-making of this project.

Following the signing of the CHT Peace Accord and the consequent repatriation of exiledinternally displaced people, in July 1998, the World Food Programme (WFP) launched a three-year ‘Expanded Food Assistance’ (EFA) programme in all three districts of the CHT. Theobjective was to improve the livelihoods, food security and nutritional needs of the poorest of thepoor, particularly vulnerable women and children, and to support the peace process by buildingtrust among the population. The programme covered three activities: Integrated Fish Culture,Livelihood Support Initiatives and Rural Road Maintenance (RM).60 However, this project wasnot taken up specifically for indigenous people or for implementation of the goals of the Decade.Consequently, huge numbers of Bengali settlers who have been receiving free rations of foodgrains since 1979 were included in the project as beneficiaries.

59 Preparatory Assistance Document of BGD/02/006/A/01/34 – Promotion of Development and Confidence-building in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Project of the GoB and UNDP, 15 April 2003

60 Rural Road Maintenance Project in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, World Food Programme, SFO Update April2006

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UNICEF has been involved in community development programmes in cluster villages for manyyears by funding the construction of community centres, and is continuing its support to theseprogrammes.

UN specialised agencies, such as UNDP, WFP etc. should recruit indigenous people as projectstaff to their on-going CHT projects. But there are still some whisperings that effectiveparticipation of CHT institutions in planning and implementing the project are not regularlymaintained. For example, there are staffs belonging to indigenous people in the CHTDF-UPDFproject but they are not in decision-making or policy-making levels.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), along with UNDP and other donors, is among the very fewinstitutions that have been funding programmes in the CHT on a large scale for many years. TheADB has funded mainly road construction, afforestation and cluster village programmes, whichwere manifestly all part of the counter-insurgency programme of the Bangladesh armyparticularly during the armed conflict. After the CHT Peace Accord, the ADB extended itssupport for the preparation of a Ten Year Regional Development Plan for the CHT in 2000. AnADB team visited the CHT in July 2000 to assess the feasibility of the projects, which includeddevelopment of rural roads and infrastructure, prevention of hill erosion and establishingwomen’s rights.

For the plains land indigenous peoples, UN Agencies or the international donor community didnot initiate any development programmes for indigenous peoples. Some national NGOs led bynon-indigenous people received funds for the development of indigenous peoples, but indigenouspeoples were not able to properly participate in these programmes. Very rarely have indigenouspeoples been consulted. Danida and Oxfam were different and tried to engage indigenous peoplesin their programmes. Even IFAD and UNESCO had some programmes for indigenous peoplesoutside of CHT, but no proper consultation was made with indigenous representatives andorganisations in Bangladesh.

Though various multi-lateral and bi-lateral organizations and agencies are for the development ofthe indigenous peoples, it is important respect the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent(FPIC).

Mesbah Kamal, Associate Professor of Dhaka University, said that the international communitymust come forward to help to restore the human rights of the minority communities ofBangladesh. They can work as watchdogs and pressurize the government to take positive policiestowards the indigenous peoples through their proactive roles. They can also support, bothlogistically and financially, the indigenous peoples to develop their skills in various fields. Theinternational community should closely monitor atrocious incidents and follow up thedevelopments and actions taken by the legal authority or the government.

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CHAPTER 5

PRIORITY ISSUES IN RELATION TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS

AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Recognition of indigenous people’s rights and their existence in the Constitution is most crucialfor indigenous peoples in relation to their human rights and fundamental freedoms in Bangladesh.The government should implement international human rights mechanisms and conventionsrelated to indigenous populations including ILO Convention No. 107 for Indigenous and Tribalpopulations in 1972.

Secondly, land alienation is one of the crucial issues faced by the indigenous peoples. Collectiveand individual rights of indigenous people over land traditionally occupied should be recognizedby the state and court as well. The non-recognition of their traditional land management systemand collective rights of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh is one of the main causes behind landdispossession of the indigenous peoples.

Thirdly, as far as development activities are concerned, the government should ensure the full andeffective participation of indigenous peoples in all development works including decision-making. Development programmes should be undertaken with free prior and informed consent.

Fourthly, implementation of the CHT Peace Accord needs to be given priority with an aim tobuild confidence among the indigenous peoples. In the CHT, lack of trust between governmentand indigenous hill peoples is the major challenge that needs to be overcome for the properimplementation of the CHT Peace Accord.

Fifthly, the idiosyncratic mindset of the Bengali Muslim ruling elite, intelligentsia andbureaucrats, deeply affected by a chauvinistic mentality, is largely responsible for the total non-recognition of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh.The lack of political will is a major challenge for indigenous peoples in Bangladesh. The politicalleaders will need to be made more aware of, and sensitive to, the issues faced by indigenouspeoples such as economic and social development, health, education, culture, environment andhuman rights in the country.

Therefore, according to the opinion of a majority of the respondents, the following issues shouldbe given priority in relation to the human rights and fundamental freedom of indigenous peoplesin Bangladesh:

(1) to ensure the constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples;

(2) to recognise collective and individual rights of indigenous peoples over land and naturalresources, customs and traditions, etc; and to return their land and homestead;

(3) to ensure the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples including theimplementation of CHT Peace Accord in letter and spirit, and also the internationalconventions ratified by Bangladesh;

(4) to ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples including in thedecision-making process for development activities;

(5) to create awareness among the ruling elite, political leaders, intelligentsia andbureaucrats in Bangladesh and sensitizing them on human rights and fundamentalfreedoms of indigenous peoples.

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CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The indigenous peoples of Bangladesh are marginalized as a result of the lack of respect for theirculture, customs and traditions. They do not have the right to self-determination, control overtheir own land and territories, and full and effective participation in their development nor arethey involved in the decision-making. Their century old systems are at the edge of extinction. Inlight of this, we would like to make the following recommendations:

6.1. UN and the International Community

1) The UN system should strengthen the mechanisms to take prompt action into the gross andongoing human rights violations, to study the militarization processes on the indigenouspeoples land and territories, as well as the systematic human rights violations on theindigenous peoples of Bangladesh;

2) The UN should call upon to the Bangladesh Government to invite the Special Rapporteur ofHuman Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples to assess the situation ofIndigenous Peoples and to play a positive role for implementation the CHT Peace Accord asper the inter-state agreement;

3) The UN should conduct a detailed study on the militarization, land dispossession,transmigration of the mainstream population to the indigenous peoples territories and itsimpact on Indigenous Peoples such as in CHT and other region of Bangladesh;

4) The UN should monitor and screen the human rights records before allowing Bangladesh tocontribute troops to UN Peace Keeping Forces;

5) The UN and Human Rights Council should call upon to the Bangladesh Government, as amember of the Council, to submit the yearly progressive reports on human rights and otherrelevant ratified conventions and implement them;

6) The UN and the PFII should give special priority for implementing the agreement betweenthe state and Indigenous Peoples as for the CHT Peace Accord in Bangladesh. It should createa monitoring system on the progress of such implementation;

7) The UN should emphasize and call upon to the Bangladesh Government to review thenational constitution with regard to the recognition and existence of the rights of indigenouspeoples, and with the effective participation by the Indigenous Peoples;

8) The UN should encourage to the Bangladesh Government to withdraw their variousrestrictions on human rights treaties such as the Human Rights Covenants, and ratify ILOConvention 169and the treaty of International Criminal Court;

9) The UN should call upon to the Bangladesh Government to implement the concerns andrecommendations made by the UN Committee on the Elimination all forms of RacialDiscrimination with regards the CHT Indigenous Peoples on 27 April 2001;

10) The UNDP and other International development organizations should work for theconstructive development of traditional values, practices and structures on the principle ofself-determination and human rights;

11) The UNDP and other International Agencies should take into account the social conditionsand human rights situations for the development of Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples;

12) The International Labour Organization (ILO) as a specialized agency of the United Nationsand the only Convention holder for the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in the UN system,

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should consider operating programs and actions for further achievement of the ratifiedConvention 107 by the Bangladesh Government.

6.2. Special Rapporteur

1) To initiate regional consultation meetings on the concept of Indigenous Peoples and theirsituation with regard the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Bangladesh;

2) To initiate a detailed study of the forcible demography change perpetrated in IndigenousPeoples land and territories through the state-sponsored population transfer in the CHT.

3) To launch a study on land alienation and the human rights situation of indigenous peoples ofBangladesh.

4) To conduct an official visit to Bangladesh to see the human rights and fundamental freedomsof indigenous peoples in Bangladesh.

6.3. Bangladesh Government

1) To uphold as the sole authority the rights of all the citizens and to ensure the constitutionalrecognition of Indigenous People, their rights of land and natural resources, customs andtraditions, and the right to self-determination;

2) To ensure the representation of the Indigenous Peoples at the local government and thenational parliamentary level;

3) To implement all the provisions of the 1997 CHT Accord with immediate effect including thedemilitarization of CHT, legalization of the traditional land inheritance system, ensuring thesecurity of the Jumma people, relocating the Bengali settlers outside CHT, etc.;

4) To withdraw all kinds of restrictions for ratification and implementation of the internationalconventions and declarations including ILO Convention 169 and support in adopting theDeclaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

5) To establish development policies with the full, effective and meaningful participation of theindigenous peoples and conduct development programmes for the indigenous peoples incompliance with the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent;

6) To establish an independent commission and/or institution at the national level with effectiveparticipation of the indigenous peoples for research and study on the demography, land andhuman rights as well. This institution will train and develop skills of the government officialsto deal with the indigenous issues through various educational and training programs with thehelp of various institutions and experts;

7) To respect the cultural diversity of the indigenous population of the country and promote andprotect them in a positive way, while respecting the relationship of indigenous peoples withthe nature;

8) To stop the systematic and forcible displacement of the indigenous peoples from the ancestrallands. Instead, the government should develop legal mechanisms to prevent the illegaloccupation and possession of land owned by the indigenous peoples.

9) To provide special safety and legal support to the human rights activists working at the locallevel for the welfare of the indigenous peoples so that the minority citizens of the country canget true justice.

10) To respect the principle of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for any activity involvingindigenous peoples.

6.4 Human Rights Organizations, NGOs and other Agencies

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1) To set up a special and separate body and mechanism for indigenous peoples to monitor andobserve the human rights situation of indigenous peoples as well as to regularly follow up onits progress. The organizations can build alliances on specific issues to strengthen theirposition and to lessen the burden from one particular organization;

2) To initiate a detailed study on indigenous peoples issues in particular on their relations to theland, natural resources and livelihoods;

3) To increase the involvement of indigenous peoples with the HR organizations, national NGOsand other relevant agencies for further achievement of Development Millennium Goals by2015 and the second international decade of the world’s indigenous peoples by UN;

4) To take the initiative to protect and promote the culture, traditions and customary rights inkeeping with international laws and mechanisms, and involving the mainstream population inthis. This will remove the stigmatization of the indigenous issues from the mind of theBengali population;

5) To find ways of cooperation with relevant organizations to pressurise the government to stopthe arbitrary arrest, torture, oppression and extra judicial killing of indigenous peoples as wellto implement the non-implemented provisions of the CHT Accord as early as possible;

6) To urge the civil society members and organizations to advocate for the rights of theindigenous peoples and to request the government to withdraw the military rule andtemporary camps from CHT region;

7) To support the creation of an effective mechanism within United Nations to monitor thetreaties or accords between indigenous peoples and states;

8) To incorporate indigenous peoples’ perspectives to the all development programmes.

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Annex-1

A. The main features of the CHT Peace Accord, as divided into four parts, are as follows:

Provisions Main Features

A. General 1. The CHT region has been recognized as a tribal-inhabited region and the need ofpreserving the characteristics of this region and attaining the overall developmentthereof.

2. Both the parties have agreed to make alter, amend and add to the relevant laws,regulations and practices according to law as early as possible

3. A 3-member Accord Implementation Committee with a Convenor to benominated by the Prime Minister will be formed for monitoring implementation ofthe Accord.

B. Hill DistrictCouncils (HDCs)

4. Provision for further strengthening of power and functions of three HDCs with 33transferable subjects (including more new 12 subjects awarded in the Accord),such as, supervision, maintenance and improvement of the law and order, generaladministration, police (local), land and land management, primary and secondaryeducation, youth welfare, forest (except reserved forest) and environmentalprotection and development, local tourism, agriculture, health etc.

C. Chittagong HillTracts RegionalCouncil (CHTRC)

5. Provision for formation of CHTRC with the aim of making CHT a uniquepolitical and administrative unit, bestowing the power of supervising andcoordinating to the subjects transferred to three HDCs, law and order, generaladministrations, development programmes, CHT Development Board,Coordination of NGO activities and disaster management and relief operation,traditional and social justice etc and issuing license for heavy industries

D. Rehabilitation,General Amnesty andOther Matters

6. In order to restore normalcy in the CHT region, both the parties have arrived at thefollowing consensus and agreed to undertake programmes as follows:a) Withdrawal of all the temporary camps of the army, the Ansars and the VDP,

excepting the BDR and six army cantonments;b) Rehabilitation of returnee Jumma refugees, internally displaced families and

returnee members of the PCJSS;c) Rehabilitation of landless Jumma families, providing land settlement;d) Formation of land commission for settlement of land disputes that arisen due

to forcible land grabbing by the Bengali settlers and unlawful entitlement andacquisition.

e) Allocation of additional finance on a priority basis for the implementation ofincreased number of projects towards developments in the CHT;

f) Quota reservation for the Jumma people in respect of government service andin institutions for higher studies.

g) The permanent residents of the CHT shall be appointed, subject to prioritybeing given to the Jumma people to all the posts of officers and employees ingovernment, semi-government, local government and autonomous bodies ofthe CHT.

h) Provision for establishment of Ministry for CHT Affairs where a cabinetminister would be appointed from among Jumma people and an AdvisoryCommittee shall be constituted to lend support to this Ministry.

B. The present state of the implementation of the Accord is as follows:

Implemented Issues Non-implemented Issues

Ministerial Council approved the CHT Accord on 22December 1997 and a gazette was passed.

No guideline and instruction from the government onthe Accord was sent to concerned ministries,departments, local bodies and offices, such as theoffice of the three HDCs, DCs, SPs, CHTDB anddistrict and upazila (sub-district) level officials.

In 1998 PCJSS members deposited their arms in fourinstallations and each one received Tk. 50,000.

Rehabilitation of PCJSS members including providingloan on easy condition is yet to be implemented.

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On 3, 4, and 5 May 1998 three Acts were passed,which are the Rangamati HDC (amended) Act 1998,the Bandarban HDC (amended) Act 1998, theKhagrachari HDC (amended) Act 1998 respectively.

Election of the HDCs is yet to be held and no subjecthas been transferred since signing of the Accord. Voterlist only with the permanent resident of CHT is yet tobe prepared for the election of HDCs.

On 6 May 1998 CHTRC Act was passed and in May1999 Interim CHT Regional Council was established.

Full execution of the Act is yet to be made and Rulesof Business of the CHTRC is kept pending without anyapproval by the Government.

PCJSS claims only 31 temporary army camps out of543 camps were withdrawn, but government claims172 camps were withdrwan

Rest of temporary camps are yet to be withdrawn.Moreover, ‘Operation Uttaron’ that was imposed in2001 is also yet to be lifted.

According to the 20 Points Package Facility, returneerefugees from the Indian Province of Tripura wererehabilitated and most of them received financialassistance.

9,780 families out of 12,222 families have not returnedtheir lands, homesteads and orchards and 40 villages ofthe returnees are still under the occupation of thesettlers.

Task Force on Rehabilitation of Returnee JummaRefugees and Internal Jumma Displaced Persons wasreconstituted on 20 January 1998 and a list of IDPswas compiled violating the Accord.

Internally Jumma displaced families numbering morethan ten thousand families are yet to be rehabilitated.

CHT Accord Implementation Committee wasestablished in 1998 and activated till 13 September2001.

Since stopping of activities of the committee on 13September 2001by then Caretaker Government, theactivities of the committee have never been reactivatedtill to-date.

CHT Land Commission was constituted and CHTLand Dispute Resolution Commission Act was passedon 12 July 2001 without having consultation with andtaking consent from the CHTRC. This lawincorporates 19 clauses that are contradictory to theCHT Accord.

Land Commission is yet to start its function and its Actis yet to be amended. Hence, no land dispute has beenresolved.

64 PCJSS members and 184 returnee refugees werereinstated to their jobs. Besides, 675 and 11 membersof PCJSS were appointed as constables in the policeforce and as Traffic Sergeants respectively.

1,429 self-employment projects that submitted to thegovernment by the PCJSS members are yet to begranted.

Decisions were made to withdraw 720 cases out of844 cases that were filed against PCJSS members andthe permanent residents involved with PCJSS.

Withdrawal decisions of the cases are yet to beexecuted.

Ministry for CHT Affairs was established and anAdvisory Committee was constituted.

Roles of the Ministry are not favourable to the interestof the CHT people.

Permanent residents of the CHT have not beengiven priority in appointing to the jobs

Rehabilitation of landless Jumma families,providing land settlement is yet to be implemented.

Allocation of additional finance towardsdevelopments in the CHT has not been givenpriority for the implementation of increased numberof projects

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Annex-2

The following organisations and individuals have been discussed, and following books, articles andweb pages have been reviewed:

Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations:

1) Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, 62 Prabal Housing, Mahammadpur, Dhaka

2) Movement for the Protection of Land Rights and Forest, Upper Rangamati, Rangamati

3) Jatiya Adivasi Parishad, Rajshahi

4) CHT Hill Students’ Council (PCP), Jagannath Hall, Dhaka University

5) Bangladesh Garo Chatra Sangathan (BAGACHAS), Dhaka University

6) Social Advancement Society (SAS), Devasishnagar, Rangamati

7) Garo Indigenous Michik Association (GIMA), Dhaka

8) Santal Students Union (SASU), Dhaka

9) Tripura Students Forum (TSF), Dhaka University

10) Bangladesh Marma Students Council (BMSC), Dhaka

11) Hill Women’s Federation, Rangamati

12) Bangladesh Indigenous Students Action Forum, Dhaka University

13) Bhumija, a local NGO working in the south-west region of the country

14) Indigenous Peoples Development Services (IPDS), Dhaka

15) Jum Literature Young Society, Dhaka

National Human Rights Organisations and NGOs:

1) Odhikar, a human rights orgniasation, Banani, Dhaka

2) Bangladesh Adivasi Odhikar Andolan, Dhanmandi, Dhaka

3) Research and Development Collective, Dhanmandi, Dhaka

4) Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST), Paltan, Dhaka

5) Research Initiative Bangladesh (RIB), Banani, Dhaka

6) Ain O Salish Kenda, Paltan, Dhaka

7) Bangladesh Action Research Centre on Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK), Lalmatia, Dhaka

Individuals:

1) Mr. Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, Chairman, CHT Regional Council and President, Bangladesh AdivasiForum

2) Mr. Gautam Dewan, Convenor, Movement for the Protection of Land Rights and Forest, Rangamati

3) Raja Devasish Roy, Chief, Chakma Circle, Chittagong Hill Tracts

4) Dr. Sadeka Halim, Professor, Dhaka University

5) Mr. Mangal Kumar Chakma, an indigenous human rights activists

6) Dr. Meghna Guhathakurta, Executive Director, Research Initiatives Bangladesh

7) Mr. Mesbah Kamal, Associate Professor, Department of History, Dhaka University and General Secretary,Bangladesh Adivasi Odhikar Andolan

8) Mr. Sanjeeb Drong, General Secretary, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, Dhaka

9) Mr. Rupayan Dewan, Member, CHT Regional Council, Rangamati

10) Mr. Rabindranath Soren, General Secretary, Bangladesh Adivasi Parisad, Rajshahi

11) Ms. Pabitra Mnada, General Secretary, Garo Indigenous Michik Association (GIMA), Dhaka

12) Mr. Masud Rumee, Assistant Coordinator, Investigation, BLAST, Dhaka

13) Mr. Lalit C Chakma, Executive Director, Social Advancement Society (SAS), Rangamati

14) Mr. Sukanta Sen Executive, Director, BARCIK, Dhaka

15) Mr. Mongsingneo Marma, President, CHT Hill Students' Council (PCP), Chittagong

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16) Mr. Uzzal Azim, Program Coordinator, IPDS, Dhaka

17) Mr. Johinol Khasi, EC Member, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, Sylhet

18) Mr. Element Hajong, President, Hajong Chattra Songathan, Netrokona

19) Mr. Pijus Barman, Executive Director, Jagorani Adivasi Somity, Gazipur

20) Ms. Kerina Hasdak, Research Associate, RDC, Dhaka

21) Mr. James Ward Khakshi, General Secretary, BISAF, Dhaka

22) Ms. Nirola Tongsong, EC Member, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, Sylhet

23) Ms. Flora Babli Talang, EC Member, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, Hobiganj

24) Ms. Waching Prue Marma, Parbatya Chattagram Mahila Samiti, Bandarban

25) Ms. Menyosing Marma, Chairperson, Hill Women Federation, Bandarban

26) Mr. Priti Marma, indigenous rights activist, Khagrachari

Bibliography

Books and Articles

1. Adnan, Shapan. Migration, 2004. Land Alienation and Ethnic Conflict: Causes of Poverty in the ChittagongHill Tracts of Bangladesh, Research & Advisory Services, Dhaka.

2. CERD/C/304/Add.118. (Concluding Observations/Comments), CERD/C/304/Add.118, 27 April 2001

3. Chakma, P.B., 1998. The Economy of the Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts: Some Mythsand Realities by Workshop on Development in the CHT organised by Forum for Environment andSustainable development in the CHT,

4. Concluding comments of the Committee-CEDAW: Bangladesh. 18/08/2004. A/59/38(SUPP) paras.228-267. (Concluding Observations/Comments).

5. Guhathakurta, Meghna, Sara Hossain and Devasish Roy, August 2006. Study on Access to Justice forIndigenous Peoples of Bangladesh, submitted to UNDP Regional Centre, Bangkok,

6. Halim, Sadeka, 2007, “Situation of Indigenous Women and ILO Convention on Discrimination”, inSolidarity 2007, by Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum, Dhaka

7. Halim, Sadeka, 2006, “Situation of Garo Women: Some Observation”, in Indigenous People have theRights to Territory, Lamd and Resources, Solidarity 2006, by Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum,Dhaka

8. Mohsin, Amena, 2002. The Politics of Nationalism: The Case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh,University Press Limited, Dhaka 2nd Ed.

9. Qanungo, Dr. Sunity Bhushan, 1998. Chakma Resistance to British Domination

10. Rabbani, Fazle, June 2004. Atlas of the Languages and Ethnic Communities of Chittagong Hill Tracts,UNESCO, Dhaka

11. Rafi, Mohammad and A Mushtaque R. Chowdhury (ed), 2001. Counting the Hills, Assessing Developmentin Chittagong Hill Tracts, UPL

12. Roy, Raja Devasish and Sadeka Halim, 2007 Population Transfer & Ethnic Conflict in the Chittagong HillTracts, Bangladesh, NCCR-North-South IP 7 SUB-Project 2, Indigenous Communities and Settlers:Resource Conflicts in Frontier Regions of South and Southeast Asia, Department of Social Anthropology,University of Zurich, (unpublished)

13. Roy, Raja Devasish. July 2006. The ILO Convention On Indigenous And Tribal Populations, 1957 and TheLaws Of Bangladesh: A Comparative Review

14. Roy, Raja Devasish, 2004. “Challenges for Judicial Pluralism and Customary Laws of Indigenous Peoples:the Case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh”, in Arizona Journal of International and ComparativeLaw

15. Roy, Raja Devasish, 2002. Land and Forest Right in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Talking Points 4/02,ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development), Kathmandu.

16. Serajuddin, A.M., 1968, “The Rajas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and their Relations with the Mughals andthe East India Company in the Eighteen Century”, in Journal of the Pakistan historical Society, Vol. XIX,Part 1, Pakistan Historical Society, Karachi, pp 53-60

17. Situational Analysis for Mainstreaming Indigenous Children’s Education PEDP-II

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18. Sutter, Phil, 2000. CHT Livelihood Security Assessment Report, CARE-Bangladesh,

19. --------- OCTOBER 2005. UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL, Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), People’sRepublic of Government of Bangladesh, p-152. Dhaka

20. ---------- 2006. ‘Beauty Parloure Mandir Meyera Kemon Achhen’ published by Garo Indigenous WomenAssociation,

21. ---------- 2006. An assessment of the United Nations First International Decade of the World’s IndigenousPeoples 1995-2004, conducted by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD),Nepal

22. --------- 2005. Gender Profile: The Chittagong Hill Tracts, CHTDF-UNDP

23. ---------- 2005. CEACR: Individual Observation concerning Convention No. 107, Indigenous and TribalPopulations, 1957 Bangladesh (ratification: 1972)

24. -------- 15 April 2003. Preparatory Assistance Document of BGD/02/006/A/01/34 – Promotion ofDevelopment and Confidence-building in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Project of the GoB and UNDP,

25. ---------- November 2000. “Baseline Survey on Indigenous Peoples in North-west Bangladesh”, A studyconducted by an NGO, Research and Development Collective (RDC),

26. ---------- April 2006. Rural Road Maintenance Project in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, World FoodProgramme, SFO Update.

27. Constitution of Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh

Web Pages

1. http://www.pcjss.org

2. http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2006/119-06.htm

3. http://www.jpnuk.org.uk/hr/hr2005.htm

4. http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/A.59.38(SUPP) paras.228-267.En?Opendocument

5. http://www.jummonet.blogspot.com, http://www.jummonet.wordpress.com

6. http://www.un.org

7. http://www.updfcht.org

News Reports

1. The Daily Prothom Alo, 13 and 21 July 2007

2. E-report on CHT Situation circulated by Kapaeeng Watch in August 2007

http://www.jummonet.blogspot.com/

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