The Hindu : Chittagong tribals threaten to revive insurgency

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 09, 2002

International

International

Chittagong tribals threaten to revive insurgency

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA Dec. 8. Tension mounted throughout the Chittagong Hill Tracts after the former tribal guerillas expressed serious dissatisfaction over the "non-implementation" of the peace accord by the present Government and the regional leaders of the four-party ruling alliance threatened to counter the tribals "even with arms'' if the "illegal pact'' was implemented.

The fifth anniversary of the landmark 1997 peace accord was observed in the hill districts as well as in the capital last week with three opposing parties expressing their determination to advance their conflicting programmes, signalling fresh trouble ahead.

The Parbatta Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS), the main tribal body that signed the accord with the Sheikh Hasina government, said it might even "go back to insurgency", charging the Khaleda Zia Government with not showing any interest in implementing the accord. "We had an armed struggle for 24 years. If necessary, we are ready to return to the bush war for securing total implementation of the accord'', said Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma alias Santu Larma, chief of the PCJSS and the Shanti Bahini rebels, at a tribal rally in Khagrachari.

The anti-accord United Peoples Democratic Party (UPDF), led by Proshit Khisa, demanded that the Government should prosecute Santu Larma for "killing thousands'' of its supporters during the past several years.

The Awami League, which signed the agreement, said the Khaleda regime, by stopping the implementation of the treaty, was "trying to return the region to turmoil'' once again.

Meanwhile, left-leaning political leaders blamed the Government for continuing the army's "Operation Uttaran'' in the Chittagong region. They said that by not implementing the treaty, including the provision for withdrawal of the army from the region, the Government was trying to invite "fresh trouble''.

At a seminar in Dhaka marking the signing anniversary of the accord, Santu Larma, who held the Awami League government equally responsible for "not being sincere'' in the implementation of the accord, said, "Now, an undeclared martial law is in force in the Chittagong region'' which was contrary to the peace accord.

Significantly, the former guerilla leader, who is also the Chairman of the CHT Regional Council, with the rank and status of a State Minister, alleged that the Government was patronising "religious fundamentalists and reactionary groups'' in the hill districts "with an ulterior motive''.

The internationally acclaimed legal expert, Kamal Hossain, has remarked that the 1997 peace accord was "complementary'' to the country's Constitution. He also said ``vested quarters'' were creating obstacles in the way of its implementation.

In a related development, at a counter rally in Bandarban, local leaders of the ruling alliance termed the accord as "anti-state'' and ``unconstitutional'' and threatened that the Bengalis would take up arms if the tribals returned to bush war.

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