CHT is still under army control: Shantu
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Parbatya Chattagram Regional Council chairman Shantu Larma has said that the army still rules supreme in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) even after the government recently announced the withdrawal of one brigade, reports bdnews24.com.
He asked the government to immediately declare a roadmap for the full implementation of CHT peace accord.
"The way the withdrawal of army troops from the CHT has been reported is not right at all. Only some makeshift camps have been removed," former Shantibahini chief Shantu Larma made the statement while speaking at a press conference at the National Press Club in the city Wednesday ahead of International Indigenous Day on August 9.
"People are baffled by the report. Army rule is there in the name of Operation Searchlight," he said in a written statement.
There are five brigades and five camps in the three CHT districts of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban.
The 1996-2001 Hasina administration signed the accord with Parbatya Chattagram Janasanghati Samiti (PCJS) in 1997 to end two decades of insurgency and establish permanent peace in the region.
As part of the accord, the government pledged to pull out army troops in phases and resolve land disputes in the three hill districts.
Since the CHT peace treaty was signed in 1997 to end decades-old bush war, 200 security camps have been phased out, according to a press release of the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate.
He asked the government to immediately declare a roadmap for the full implementation of CHT peace accord.
"The way the withdrawal of army troops from the CHT has been reported is not right at all. Only some makeshift camps have been removed," former Shantibahini chief Shantu Larma made the statement while speaking at a press conference at the National Press Club in the city Wednesday ahead of International Indigenous Day on August 9.
"People are baffled by the report. Army rule is there in the name of Operation Searchlight," he said in a written statement.
There are five brigades and five camps in the three CHT districts of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban.
The 1996-2001 Hasina administration signed the accord with Parbatya Chattagram Janasanghati Samiti (PCJS) in 1997 to end two decades of insurgency and establish permanent peace in the region.
As part of the accord, the government pledged to pull out army troops in phases and resolve land disputes in the three hill districts.
Since the CHT peace treaty was signed in 1997 to end decades-old bush war, 200 security camps have been phased out, according to a press release of the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate.