Govt to form body to expedite implementation of CHT accord
Sunday, 24 May 2009
RANGAMATI, May 23 (BSS): The government will form a high-powered committee with deputy leader of the house Sajeda Chowdhury as its head for quick implementation of the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) peace accord, state minister for CHT affairs Dipankar Talukdar said today.
"The committee will hold dialogues with local politicians, public representatives, elite and leaders of PCJSS (Parbatya Chattagram Jano Sanghati Samity) to complete the implementation of remaining conditions of the landmark agreement," he said.
Speaking at an opinion exchange meeting with village and mouza chiefs and local officials at Borkol, 50 kilometres off Rangamati town, Talukdar said, the government already planned to appoint a reputed senior lawyer with expertise on land issues to settle the land disputes in the hills in line with the accord.
The previous Awami League government signed the accord with PCJSS, the political wing of the now defunct Shanti Bahini insurgents, in 1997 after rounds of peace talks ending a protracted insurgency in the hills that had claimed an estimated 20,000 people including army troops, insurgents and ordinary people.
"The committee will hold dialogues with local politicians, public representatives, elite and leaders of PCJSS (Parbatya Chattagram Jano Sanghati Samity) to complete the implementation of remaining conditions of the landmark agreement," he said.
Speaking at an opinion exchange meeting with village and mouza chiefs and local officials at Borkol, 50 kilometres off Rangamati town, Talukdar said, the government already planned to appoint a reputed senior lawyer with expertise on land issues to settle the land disputes in the hills in line with the accord.
The previous Awami League government signed the accord with PCJSS, the political wing of the now defunct Shanti Bahini insurgents, in 1997 after rounds of peace talks ending a protracted insurgency in the hills that had claimed an estimated 20,000 people including army troops, insurgents and ordinary people.