From - Thu Dec 25 11:14:29 1997 Path: newsfeed.pitt.edu!pitt.edu!dsinc!news.voicenet.com!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news-pull.sprintlink.net!news-in-east.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!199.222.50.6!newsjunkie.ans.net!newsfeeds.ans.net!dahlia.singnet.com.sg!newsfeed.singnet.com.sg!news.citechco.net!locker From: "Salauddin Quader Chowdhury" Newsgroups: soc.culture.bangladesh Subject: CHT Treaty: Profit and Loss Account Date: 23 Dec 1997 15:38:02 GMT Organization: a Digital Internet AlphaServer Site Lines: 261 Message-ID: <01bd0fbb$02ba32a0$33897fcb@sqc> NNTP-Posting-Host: as2-11.citechco.net X-Newsreader: Microsoft Internet News 4.70.1155 "CHT Treaty: Profit and Loss Account" Written By Salauddin Quader Chowdhury The Prime Minister cannot tell a lie. She can indulge in terminological inexactitudes; she could be economical with the truth; she could be imaginitive with facts; she could over-stretch the truth; she could fabricate myths; she could be ill informed or briefed; she could be paranoid; she could be obsessed;,she is capable of becoming or doing any or all these and yet I do not believe that she can tell a lie – for she is Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Briefing journalists on Sunday, the 7th of December,1997, the Prime Minister delivered a prepared statement on the so called "Shanti (Peace) Accord" signed by her government with the "Shanti (Peace) Bahini" on the 2nd of December,1997. She quoted some Articles of the Constitution that supported certain provisions of the questionable "Shanti Accord". As published in the newspapers she has emphasised the following points : 1. The Shanti Bahini was for the independence of the Hill Districts . 2. The Shanti Accord has pulled the Shanti Bahini away from this stand and made the Constitution operative in the Hill Districts. 3. No discrimination has created among the citizens of the country by the Shanti Accord. 4. The government's power to collect taxes and revenues have not been curtailed by the Shanti Accord 5. The Shanti Accord has not curbed the power of Parliament. 6. The Shanti Accord was not contrary to the Constitution. Perhaps our Prime Minister may care to enlighten the nation on the following aspects of the Awami – Shanti Bahini agreement : AA Section – Ka – General – Clause 3 of the Awami – Shanti Agreement states: "Non-tribal permanent residents" will mean those who are not a tribal but have legal lands and generally live in hill districts at specific addresses. Section – Ka – General – Clause 4 (Gha) states : The concerned Circle Office will ascertain whether a person is non-tribal or not on the basis of submission of certificate given by concerned mouza headman / Uniion Parishad Chaiman / Paurashabha Chairman and no non-tribal person can becomethe non-tribal candidate without the certificate received from the Circle Officer regarding this. These two sections make it transparently evident that no one could claim to be a resident of the Hill Districts unless his residency was certified by a tribal Circle Chief. This is contradictory to Article 36 of the Constitution. BB Section – Ka – General – Clause 26 of the Awami – Shanti Bahini Agreement reads as follows : Whatever be the provisions in the currently prevailing laws, Hill Districts police Sub-Inspector and below shall be appointed by the Hill District Parishad as per the prescribed rules and the Parishad wil transfer and take action against them as per the prescribed rules. However, the condition will be that tribals of the district wil get preference in case of these appointments. This Clause qualifies, indeed provides preference to members of the Shanti Bahini , to hold arms with legal sanction. Further this clause is directly contrary to both the letter ans spirit of Article 1 of the Constitution and raises questions as to the effectiveness of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 28, Article 29, Article 32, Article 38, Article 39, Article 40, Article 41 and Article 42 of the Constitution. CC Section – Ka – General—Clause 26 of the Awami- Shanti Bahini Agreeement reads as follows { a) Whatever exists in the currently prevailing laws, without prior permission of the Parishad (Hill District Parshad), no lands, including leasable khas lands in the district can be leased out, sold, purchased or transferred. b) Whatever exists in the currently prevailing other laws, the government cannot acquire or transfer any lands hills and forests under the jurisdiction of the Hill District Parishad without prior discussion and approval of the Parisad. These two Clauses are transparently contrary to to the letter and spirit of Article 1, Article 7, Article 11, Article 19, Article 28, Article 29, Article 36 and Article 42 of our Constitution. DD Section – Ka -- Clause 35 of the Awami Shanti Bahini Agreement reads as follows : The following subjects and sources will be included for imposition of taxes, tolls rates and fees by the Parishad stated in the Second Schedule :- (Ka) Registration Fees of manual vehicles, (Kha) TAX ON BUYING AND SELLING OF COMMODITIES (Ga) Holding Tax on Land and Building (Gha) Tax on domestic animals (Uma) Fees of social judgement (Cha) Holding Tax on Government and Non-government industries (Chha) A PORTION OF ROYALTY ON FOREST RESOURCES (Ja) Supprementary tax on cinema jatra and circus, (Jha) PARTIAL ROYALTY OF CONTRACTS BY GOVERNMENT FOR SEARCH AND EXPLORATION OF MINERAL RESOURCES (neo) TAX ON BUSINESS (Ta) Tax on lotter (Tha) Tax on catching fish. This clause is inconsistent and contrary to Article 1, Article 84, Article 143 and Article 144 of the Constitution. EE (GA)—Hill Tracts Regional Parishad – of the Awami Shanti Agreement provides : Clause 1. – A Regional Council wll be formed combining the three Hill Districts local government parishad through amending some clause of the three Hill District Local Government Parishad Act of 1989 with a view to strengthening and making them effective. 2. The Chairman of the Parishad would be indirectly elected by the elected members of the Parishad. The Chairman will enjoy the status of a State Minister and he must be a tribal. 3. The Parishad will consist of 22 members including its Chairman. Two thirds of members will be elected from the tribals. The Parishad will consist of 22 members including its Chairman. Two thirds of the members will be elected from the tribals This clause is discriminatory in nature and is contrary to Article 28 of the Constitution. The class representation does not represent the demographic composition of the Hill Districts. FF Section Gha -- Rehabilitation, general amnesty and other issues – Clause 4 & 5 states that : 4. A commission (land commission) will be constituted under a retired judge for the disposal of all disputes relating to lands. Besides settlement of land disputes of the rehabilitated tribals, THIS COMMISSION SHALL HAVE FULL POWER TO ANNUL ALL RIGHTS OF OWNERSHIP ON LANDS AND HILLS WHICH HAVE SO FAR BEEN GIVEN ILLEGAL SETTLEMENTS OR ENCROACHED ILLEGALLY. NO APPEAL CAN BE MADE AGAINST THE VERDICT OF THIS COMMISSION AND THE DECISION OF THIS COMMISSION WILL BE TREATED AS FINAL. THIS WILL BE IMPLIED IN CASE OF FRINGE LAND. 5. The commission will be constituted with the following members : a) A Retired Judge b) Circle Chief concerned c) Chairman representative of the Regional Council d) Divisional Commissioner / Additional Divisional Commissioner e) Chairman of the District Council concerned 6 (Ka) The tenure of the Commission will be of three years. But the tenure can be extended in cinsultations with the Regional Council. (Kha) THE COMMISSION WILL RESOLVE DISPUTES ON THE BASIS OF EXISTING LAWS, CUSTOMS AND SYSTEMS OF CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS. A Land Commission which is dominated by tribals in numbers with no representation of non-tribals, that is empowered to annul rights of ownership of land to be determined on the basis of indeterminate and undocumented customs and systems of Chitttagong Hill Tracts --- seems designed to evict all non- tribals from Chittagong Hill Tracts. These clauses represent a direct contradiction of the Rule of Law and conceived and stipulated in the Constitution and is in violation of the Constitution and particularly Article 7. A thorough study of the Agreement and the above citations leads us to the inevitable conclusion that the Awami – Shanti Bahini Agreement has been drafted to provide for the following : 1. Provide authority to the Shanti Bahini to evict all non-tribal residents of Chittagong Hill Tracts; the composition and powers of the Land Commission combined with the need for certification of permanent residency by the Circle office is sufficient to obtain this objective of the Agreement. 2. Provide legal cover for ownership of the total land, forest and mineral resources of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to the Shanti Bahini; the authority provided to the Shanti Bahini to collect land development tax, to collect royalties on forest resources and to collect royalties on the mineral resources of Chittagong Hill Tracts; the government of Bangladesh surrendering all rights to land in Chittagong Hill Tracts. 3. Provide for the use of lands and resources of the Chittagong Hill Tracts for the exclusive use of the Shanti Bahini. 4. Provide for inducting members of the Shanti Bahini into the police force thereby legitimising the carrying of arms by the Shanti Bahini even after the ostensible surrender of weapons. 5. Provide authority to the Shanti Bahini to collect taxes under the cover of law, in lieu of the tolls extorted by them in the last two decades; they have been authorised to collect VAT as well in the name of tax on the purchase and sale of commodities. 6. Provide for the introduction of a system of separate electorate for distinguishing tribals from non-tribals. 7. Provide for the establishment of a Shanti Bahini government in Chittagong Hill Tracts which would function in competition to the Government of Bangladesh. We are overwhelmed with the propaganda machinery of the government – the radio, television and the printed media – who are trying to convince us that the Awami – Shanti Agreement has been the single greatest event of the 20th century east of Suez. The pro-Indian media would like us to believe that this is the greatest achievement of our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Indeed our British friends have congratulated the Awami government for its achievement in signing this agreement witht the Shanti Bahini. British statesmen have not been able to settle the insurgency in Northern Ireland for centuries. Indian statesmen have not been able to resolve the problems in Kashmir, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland and Mizoram during the last 50 years. The Sri Lankans have not been able to sort out their problems with the Tamil insurgency. But Bangladesh has done it. Capitulation does not require any degree of statesmanship. It is amusing to observe that "intellectuals" who were born in West Bengal, Bihar, Kushtia, Barisal and Faridpur are congratulating the Awami League government for the infamous "Peace Accord" by which 5000 square miles of our territory has been surrendered to the Shanti Bahini – a group of insurgents who have waged war on the people and government and people of Bangladesh for almost two decades from the neighbouring Indian state of Tripura. It is public knowledge that the Shanti Bahini has been trained and armed by the Indians. A tribal Member of Parliament and I, had a chance meeting at the Dhaka airport less than two weeks ago – a few days before the signing of the Awami - Shanti Bahini Agreement. My illustrious colleague from the Chittagong Hills was elected to Parliament under the direct patronage of the Shanti Bahini on a Awami League ticket. This Shani Bahini MP suggested to me that the forthcoming agreement with the Hasina government would be extremely beneficial to my political future and the future of Chittagong. It was obvious that my tribal friend was trying to capitalise on my public speeches in favour of decentralisation and my deep feelings as a Chittagonian. My own village and my political consitituency is on the border of Chittagong Hill Tracts. The interaction between our peoples – that of my electoral constituency and the Chittagong Hill Tracts – date back to over two centuries. Indeed, the original home of the Chakma Raja is still at Rajar Hat in Rajanagar under Rangunia P.S. – which is part of my electoral constituency. My family has always enjoyed the confidence of the people in the hills to the extent that in electoral contests during erstwhile Pakistan, the tribals voted for my father against the Chakma chiefs. It is a matter of some satisfaction that I have continued to enjoy the confidence of the tribal voters upto the present time. Despite this history of harmonious relationship with the tribals, for the past two decades farmers and small businesses located in the plains adjacent to the Chittagong Hill Tracts have been subjected to extortion by members of the Shanti Bahini. Bengali traders engaged in small businesses in the Chittagong Hill Tracts had become prey to the armed cadres of the Shanti Bahini who had established their own revenue collection system. Pressure of limited land in the plains had also forced many landless Bengalis to build homes in the hills and seek a source of livelihood; in the last two decades these ethnic Bengalis whether they were Chittagonians or from other districts, became targets of the violent wrath of the Shanti Bahini. Arable land in the Chittagong Hill Tracts understandably is in short supply/ The entry of people from the plains into the hills, compounded by the loss of arable land flooded by the dam of the Kaptai Hydro-Electric Project, aggravated competition for cultivable acreage between the tribals and the new people from the plains.