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The peace
campaign group (PCG) has lashed out at the military backed
interim government of Bangladesh for allegedly following the
previous Governments’ policy of integration of the Jumma
indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts with the
majority Bengali population of the country in a more radical and
coercive way.
In a statement the New Delhi based peace group has said
settlement of Bengali settlers in large number in the CHT and
illegal and forceful land occupation by them with support from
the authorities and political repressions on and human rights
abuses against Jumma indigenous activists remain the major
concerns in the region. Land-disputes between indigenous locals
and Bengali settlers addressed in the 1997 CHT peace treaty have
not been settled till today.
“PCJSS (Parbatya
Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, the only political organization
leading the indigenous people’s movement in the CHT) and other
indigenous organizations demanding democratic engagements with
the authorities for proper implementation of the CHT peace
treaty and sustainable peace and development are being
suppressed with force”, it opined. Dozens of indigenous
political leaders including the PCJSS General Secretary Satyabir
Dewan have been arrested and put behind the bar by framing false
charges, such as involvement in terror, murder and extortion,
against them, it added.
The PCG has urged the international community to put strong
pressure on the military backed Interim Government of Bangladesh
for immediate restoration of democracy and people's fundamental
rights and freedoms, and proper and early implementation of the
CHT peace treaty in the interest of sustainable peace, stability
and development in the CHT. May
10 2007 |
