Cultural Survival and Rights: The Unfinished Journey of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord
Keywords:
Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord (CHTPA); Indigenous Peoples; Human Rights; Ethnic Communities; Bangladesh; Conflict; Military Tyranny; Cultural Preservation
Abstract
The signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord (CHTPA) in 1997 pledged to end a decades-old violent armed struggle while giving several reparations to the indigenous people of Bangladesh's southern hill zone. The agreement has not yet produced fallouts after 25 years; has not been implemented, and indigenous peoples' grief, desolation, servitude, and mistreatment continued. Communities are losing their identities, cultures, languages, livelihoods, and assets and becoming increasingly vulnerable and disadvantaged. This paper aims to examine why peace agreements have been ineffective in protecting Indigenous peoples from violence and harassment and to explore how institutional and legal mechanisms have failed to restore their lost dignity and rights actively.
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Wallensteen, P. and Joshi, M. (2018). Developing Quality Peace: Moving Forward. In Understanding Quality Peace: Peacebuilding After Civil War. In eds. M. Joshi and P. Wallensteen. Taylor & Francis Group, Milton, 277–284.
Bala, S. (2022). Assessment of the Implementation Status of the CHT Peace Agreement. In: Politics of Peace Agreement Implementation. Palgrave Macmillan. Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1944-1_4.
Barua, B.P. (2001). Ethnicity and National Integration in Bangladesh. A study on Chittagong Hill Tracts. New Dehli: Har Anand Publishers Pvt Limited.
Chakma, K. and D’-Costa, B. (2013). The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Diminishing Violence or Violent Peace. In Diminishing Conflicts in Asia and the Pacific: Why Some Subside and Others Don’t. In eds. E. Aspinall, R. Jeffrey and A. Regan. Routledge. Abingdon, 137–149.
Chhakchhuak, P. S. (2004) Chittagong Hill Tracts: stating and resolving the issues within the mountains. American International School (Dhaka: Senior Project).
Choudhury, Z. A., R. Islam and S. Alam, (2017). Micro-Foundation of Conflict in the CHT. In Conflict Mapping in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. In ed. Z. A. Choudhury. Adhaorso Publication. Dhaka, 52–126.
Corpuz, V. T. & Joji, Carin˜o (Eds) (2000). The Chittagong Hill Tracts: The Road to a Lasting Peace (Baguio City, Philippines: Tebtebba Foundation).
Dictaan-Bang-oa, E. (2004). In search of peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. in: Chandra K. Roy, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz & Amanda Romero-Medina (Eds) Beyond the Silencing of the Guns (Philippines: Tebtebba Foundation: Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education).
Gain, P. (2000). Life and nature at risk, in R. D. Roy. A. Mohsin, M. Guhathakurta, P. Tripura & P. Gain (Eds) The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Life and Nature at Risk, 17, Dhaka, Bangladesh: Society for Environment and Human Development.
Hussain, S. A. (1999). War and Peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts: Retrospect and Prospect. Dhaka: Agamee Prakashani.
Islam, R., Susanne, S., & Saikia, U. (2022). Violent peace: community relations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh after the Peace Accord. Conflict, Security & Development, 22(3), 271-295. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1080/14678802.2022.2084284.
IWGIA (2012). Militarization in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Bangladesh - The Slow Demise of the Region’s Indigenous Peoples. Shimin Gaikou Centre (Citizens’ Diplomatic Centre for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples)3-35-13-204 Higashi- komatsugawa - Edogawa-ku, Tokyo, 132-0033, Japan.
Jamil, I., & Panday, P. K. (2008). The Elusive Peace Accord in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and the Plight of the Indigenous People. Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 46(4), 464—489. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1080/14662040802461141.
Jenneke, A (1997). Foreign Aid and Militarization in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, in Living on the Edge: Essays on the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Bhaumik, S, Guhathakurata, M, Chaudhury, B R Sabyasachi. (ed). 45-80, Kathmundu: South Asia Forum for Hurman Rights.
Joshi, M. and Quinn, J. M. (2015). Implementing the Peace: The Aggregate Implementation of Comprehensive Peace Agreements and Peace Duration After Intrastate Armed Conflict. British Journal of Political Science, 47, 869–892.
Joshi, M., Lee, S.Y., and Ginty, R.M. (2014). Just How Liberal Is the Liberal Peace? International Peacekeeping, 21(3), 364-389, DOI: 10.1080/13533312.2014.932065.
Mohsin, A (1997). The Politics of Nationalism: The Case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Bangladesh, University Press Limited Dhaka.
Mohsin, A., (2003). The Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: On the Difficult Road to Peace. Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder.
Nasreen, Z. (2017). The Indigeneity question: State Violence. Forced Displacement and Women's Narratives in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Doctoral thesis, Durham University. Available at: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12063/.
Partha, R. S. (2013). Practice and Discourse of “Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord 1997” Bangladesh. Journal of International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Japan, 20(1), 1-11.
Rahman, M.K. (2014). The Rights of Ethnic Minorities in The Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh: A Study on The Implementation of Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. Uttara University Law Journal. 01. 59-78.
Ramasubramanian, R. (2005). Elusive Peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts: A Background, Paper no. 1540, South Asia Analysis Group. http://www.saag.org/papers16/ paper1540.html.
Rashiduzzaman, M. (1998). Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord: institutional features and strategic concerns, Asian Survey, 37(7), 653–670.
Roy, R. D. (2003). The discordant accord: challenges towards the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord of 1997. Journal of Social Studies. 100 (April–June), 4–57.
Roy, R.D. (2009). The ILO Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Populations, 1957 (No. 107) And the Laws of Bangladesh: A Comparative Review, PRO 169. International Labour Standards Department. ILO Geneva and ILO Office in Dhaka, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-dhaka/documents/publication/wcms_114957.pdf.
Roy, R.D. (2021). Lessons from the Implementation of The Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord. IWGIA, https://debatesindigenas.org/ENG/ns/133-lessons-from-implementation-chittagong-hill-tracts-traty.html
Samaddar, R. (1999). Those Accords: A Bunch of Documents. SAFHR Paper Series No.4, South Asia Forum for Human Rights, Kathmandu.
Singh, R. (1996). The Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. in C. Nicholas & R. Singh (Eds) Indigenous Peoples of Asia: Many Peoples, One Struggle, Bangkok: Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact.
Ullah, M. S., Shamsuddoha, M. and Shahjahan, M. (2014). The Viability of the Chittagong Hill Tracts as a Destination for Climate-Displaced Communities in Bangladesh. In Land Solutions for Climate Displacement. In ed. S. Leckie. Routledge, London, 215–247.
Wallensteen, P. and Joshi, M. (2018). Developing Quality Peace: Moving Forward. In Understanding Quality Peace: Peacebuilding After Civil War. In eds. M. Joshi and P. Wallensteen. Taylor & Francis Group, Milton, 277–284.
Published
2024-09-03
How to Cite
Kakon, K. (2024). Cultural Survival and Rights: The Unfinished Journey of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. International Journal of Social Science Research and Review, 7(9), 92-101. https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v7i9.2297
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