Most clauses of CHT Peace Treaty have been fully implemented: PM Sheikh Hasina

"We are working with utmost sincerity for speedy implementation of the clauses that are yet to be executed," she said in reply to a question from independent lawmaker Ushatan Talukdar (Rangamati) during her question-answer session in the House.

The Premier said a three-member CHT Agreement Execution Committee has been constituted with Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury as its convener to implement and monitor the accord.

The committee, she said, has been working to implement the treaty, and the people of the CHT region witnessed massive development in different fields including health, education, communication and socioeconomic uplift thanks to execution of the agreement.

The Leader of the House said today (February 10) is a historic day for the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

"After signing of the treaty on December 2 in 1997, on this day in 1998, the armed "Shanti Bahini" members surrendered their arms to the Awami League government as per the conditions of the agreement ending decades-old bloody conflict in the region," she said.

Highlighting the background of starting unrest in the CHT region, the Prime Minister said bloody conflicts commenced in the region after the brutal assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

She said the Chittagong Hill Tracts was a troubled region from 1975 to 1996. It's a matter of regret that the governments during the 1975-96 period could not play an effective role in restoring peace in the region because of their wrong policies and lack of sincerity, she said.

In this connection, Sheikh Hasina said, after returning home in 1981 I have announced that the CHT problem is a "political problem" and it will have to be solved politically, not by military force.

"The Awami League government and (CHT) the Janasanghati Samity inked the treaty through discussion and we did not involve any foreign force or others...we saw this problem as a "political one" and it was not possible to solve it militarily," she said.

"The problem must be solved politically as the CHT is a territory of independent Bangladesh and the people of the region are the citizens of the country...they are the companions of our happiness and sorrow, if they have any anguish or resentment it's our responsibility to solve it," she added.

The Leader of the House said after being elected to power through the people's mandate in 1996, her government gave focus on solving the conflict.

"To this end, we formed the National Committee on the CHT Affairs and the historic Chittagong Hill Tracts Treaty was signed on December 2 in 1997 with the Parbatya Chattagram Janosanghati Samity due to political prudence and farsightedness of the Awami League government," she said.

The landmark peace treaty, she said, restored peace putting an end to the 22- year bloody conflict in the hills.

The Premier said the peace treaty is divided into four parts and there are 72 clauses in Ka, Kha, Ga and Gha parts. She said a total of 48 clauses of the four parts were fully implemented, while execution of nine clauses is underway.

Replying to a supplementary from the same lawmaker, the Prime Minister said in the case of signing such a treaty, a third country or party is usually gets involved in it... as it's our country and our people, if we could not understand their problem, how the people outside the country would realize?

The Leader of the House said the outside people may make guardianship and try to keep the problem alive. "That's why we didn't want it...it has been mentioned in the conditions of the agreement, nothing will take place beyond the constitution, whatever is there will happen as per our constitution," she said.

She said the government inked the treaty by showing honour to the people of the region as they have some sense of individuality. "As we signed the agreement, we must implement it," she said.

The Prime Minister said: "We would have implemented the treaty much earlier had we got enough time."

Sheikh Hasina said her government has constituted a separate ministry and CHT Regional Council. "We would have got one or two years more had the council or its chairman been more active in this regard," she said.

In this connection, the Premier criticized the BNP-Jamaat for opposing the treaty. "They called hartal on the day of surrendering arms by the members of Shanti Bahini and they also did not take any step to implement the agreement when they were in power," she said.

The Prime Minister also elaborated various steps that were taken for the welfare of the people of the CHT region.

"We have made arrangement for their job in Police and Ansar side by side with taking various programmes for food and livelihood. We have undertaken a plan to set up a beautiful Parbatya Chattagram Complex in Dhaka with modern facilities."

Sheikh Hasina called upon the Regional Council and District Councils to extend cooperation to the Land Commission to solve various problems related to peace treaty.