CHT land disputes will go: Dipankar

Rangamati, June 24 (bdnews24.com) ? The Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Commission will resume work in full gear after amendments to some necessary laws, says the state minister for CHT affairs.

"The Land Commission Law has been modified and sent to the law ministry. After the cabinet's approval, it'll be placed in parliament," said Dipankar Talukdar on Friday.

The much-debated commission was set up in 1999, two years after the peace accord was signed. It remained stalled since May due to complications over applications for resolving land disputes and the land survey issue.

Several organisations in the CHT have long been demanding amendment to the land law, survey of lands and implementation of the guidelines worked out for the hill tracts.

The long-awaited survey is supposed to be carried out in line with the 1997 CHT Peace Accord to verify the claims of indigenous people who had fled to India during decades of strife. They returned home after the signing of the peace accord.

Addressing a cheque-distribution programme at the Rangamati Parbatiya Zilla Parishad auditorium, Dipankar said the government was sincere to implement the peace accord and working for development of the region.

"The government is working to make sure the people of this region are living in peace," he added.

Later, the state minister distributed cheques worth Tk 2.4 million to the heads of 17 educational, religious and welfare organisations in the hill region.

The Land Commission, headed by a retired justice, was first formed in 1999. The government also enacted the 'CHT Land Dispute Settlement Commission Act 2001' for functioning of this commission, and resolve the land disputes.

The 'fourth' Land Commission led by Khademul Islam Chowdhury was formed in 2009 and initiated the land survey to resolve the ongoing land disputes. But it faced opposition from the indigenous organisations, the Rajas of three circles and the Parbatiya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, saying that the survey should come after amendments to the related laws.

But convenor of the Peace Accord Implementation Committee and deputy leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury on May 5 in a letter to the commission chief urged to keep suspended its activities until the commission law was amended.

A special UN Rapporteur in a recent study on the CHT issue said the commission was lagging behind for a number of controversial decisions.

Lars-Anders Baer at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in May said lands of a good number of refuges were yet to be returned, while internally displaced Jumma families could not be rehabilitated.

Chakma Raja Devasish Roy at the session said the commission's chairperson had unilaterally decided to carry out a land survey, and "did not include the indigenous people in that survey. Instead, it directly dealt with land disputes".

Law minister Shafique Ahmed at a seminar on June 8 said the Land Commission had been formed to legitimise the rights of indigenous people.

He said no one could capture the lands owned by those people in the CHT, "since you've been staying there for generations".

"Steps will be taken in your [indigenous] favour if the existing laws are found lacking," minister Shafique added.

On May 2 last year, the High Court asked the government to explain why an order to conduct a land survey in the CHT to stop land disputes should not be issued.

Tensions flared up due to incidents of land-grabbing, culminating into the Apr 20, 2008 arson attack by Bengali-settlers with military backing that led to arson attacks on 70 tribal residences. Similar violent incidents are still seen in the region between the indigenous people and the Bengali settlers.

National Human Rights Commission chairman Mizanur Rahman on Dec 29 last year observed that the prevailing 'mistrust' about land in the CHT needed to be resolved.

bdnews24.com/corr/pks/sam/2120h

View the original article here