Sustainable Peace in CHT within Constitutional ambit

by Md. Nazrul Islam Khan
December 16, 2010

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1179/sustainable-peace-in-cht-within-constitutional

A few days back the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) peace treaty attained its 13^th anniversary. Although from the very beginning of singing of the treaty with Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) it has been treated as one of the most controversial political issues in the political arena in Bangladesh but its success at least to provisionally lessen the then prevailing unrest scenarios in the three hill districts of Khagrachhari, Ranagamati and Bandarban is really appraisable.

After the birth of Bangladesh 'Bengali' nationalism was incorporated in the Constitution in spite of heavy disagreement of the tribal people whose mother tongue was not Bengali. Although later 'Bengali' nationalism was omitted by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and 'Bangladeshi' nationalism was recognized but it was too late to convince the ethnic communities. On 15 February 1972 a hill people's delegation led by Manobendra Narayan Larma met Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then prime minister, and pressed numerous demands such as, (1) autonomy for the CHT with its own legislature, (2) retention of the 1900 CHT Manual in the Constitution of Bangladesh, (3) continuation of tribal chiefs offices; (4) constitutional provisions restricting the amendment of the Manual, and imposition of a ban on the influx of non-tribal people into the CHT. It may be mentioned that the CHT Manual of 1900 declared the CHT as an excluded or non-regulated area where entry of non-tribal people was restricted without prior permission of the Deputy Commissioner. The same Manual under its Regulation 34 barred the non-hill people from buying or acquiring land in the CHT.

However, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman refused to accept any of the demands placed by the delegates and asked to forget about the separate identity and become Bengalis. Shantu Larma, on the other hand, being aggrieved on 7 March 1972, formed a regional political platform namely Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and subsequently an armed wing, the Shanti Bahini (Peace Force), was added to it. In fact, within the constitutional ambit it was neither permissible nor possible for Bangabandhu to fulfill the demands raised by the delegates led by Larma.

However, the tribal people very often demand for the implementation of 'unwritten portion' of the CHT peace treaty. It may be noted that, before implementation of any 'unwritten portion' of the treaty, if any, initially it should make public as no secret deal is expected in such a national sensitive issue and the duty to disclose rest apparently upon both the government and those who demand for implementation of the said 'unwritten portion' of the treaty.

Every citizen of Bangladesh irrespective of his cultural identity is Bangladeshi as per Article 6(2) of the Constitution and that's why, any demand raised by any particular section of people having diverse cultural identity need to be consistent with the provision of the Constitution. The demand for autonomy is not a recent one but it is absolutely impossible due to ostensible constitutional bar. Article 1 of the Constitution states, "Bangladesh is a unitary, independent, sovereign Republic to be known as the People's Republic of Bangladesh". Bangladesh is a country of unitary character, which recognized the doctrine of 'Constitutional Supremacy', which restricts the unfettered authority of the Parliament to amend the Constitution, the solemn document of the land. It needs to be noted that by eighth amendment of the constitution six permanent Benches of the High Court Division was established at Chittagong, Comilla, Jessore, Barisal, Sylhet and Rangpur. The amendment was challenged in the case of Anwar Hussain Chowdhury vs. Bangladesh [1989 BLD (SPL) 1] and the Supreme Court annulled the amendment on the ground that it was violative to the unitary character of Constitution. In fact, unitary character of Constitution is treated one of its 'basic structures' that cannot be amended. Now it reveals that the demand for autonomy is itself unconstitutional that is impossible to implement.

It is exact that the tribal people residing at CHT have many grievances that need to be addressed in lawful manner. They are the most disadvantaged section in this territory. Although these tribal people entertain some special facilities by means of quota under Article 29(3) (a) of the Constitution but such facilities may be enhanced by inserting new provision in the Constitution especially for the tribes. In fact, taking the tribal people in confidence is the most important task, which may serve paramount significance in establishing sustainable peace in CHT. In response, it is the solemn duty of the tribal people to come forward to construct a harmonious relation with their Bengali neighbours as otherwise their demand for withdrawal of Army from CHT shall not gain public support. One may reasonably apprehends that withdrawal of Army from CHT shall inevitably endanger life and property of the Bengalis living in CHT and in such a unanticipated case even by deploying more Army troops the unrest scenario may be unfeasible to triumph over.

The territory of Bangladesh belongs to all of its citizens irrespective of his race, sex, caste or any other identity. The area of CHT and its residents are not isolated part of Bangladesh. The tribal people enjoy the freedom of movement and right to establish house in anywhere of the country and that's why, what is the justification behind talk only about CHT and ignoring rest portion of the land. It is the high time for the ethnic communities to join hands with their Bengali counterpart in the development of the country.

The long armed struggle of Shanti Bahani, an armed wing of the Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), was failed to secure any peaceful solution. Rather with the surrender of arms by the members of Shanti Bahani at least provincially peaceful ambience has been prevailing in CHT, which should not be prejudiced. Any lawful demand for advancement of this disadvantaged section of people may be justified to ensure their effective representation in the business of the Republic. But any endeavour to construct a different nationalism like 'Jumma nationalism' or to gain an autonomous 'Jummaland' shall substantially harm the peaceful environment of the mountainous region.

The writer can be reached at nikhan_law @yahoo.com

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