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Solving Hill Tracts Problem
Coming Monday the authorities of Bangladesh and India are to meet (o expedite the return of the refugees from India. The talks acquire a special urgency in view of the expressed desire of the refugees to participate in the ensuing parliamentary polls. The Advisor for Foreign Affairs told this journal that steps have been taken to speed up the repatriation process to enable the refugees to take part in the election.
We are happy at this development. The willingness of the refugees to take part In the electoral process is a definite expression of their faith in the neutrality of the present government and in the genuine nature of the coming election. Ensuring a proper representation from our tribal areas in the new parliament will be a sure way of building that critical trust which is sb essential for a stable and long term solution of the Hill Tracts problem that has eluded us for so long.
The origin of the problem lies in the Insensitivity of the erstwhile government of Pakistan concerning the welfare of the tribal people. No genuine attempt was made to solicit their views on the various development projects that were built there. As to the tribal's participation in the political and the decision making process, the less said the better. Bangladesh can be said to have inherited the problem. Acute poverty in other parts of the country and the tremendous pressure on limited land resulting in a steady migration in those areas did not make the resolution of the problem any easier. The rise of Shanti Bahinl and their programme of armed insurgency, forcing the use of our army to protect innocent Lives, further complicated the problem.
After years of negotiations and many failed peace plans, the Local Government Council Bill was enacted in 1989 in consultation with the tribal leaders including those from Shanti Bahini. An election to the local bodies was held in January ‘89. leading to the setting up of the three local councils. Under the Act 22 subjects, save defense, foreign affairs and finance, were to be given to these elected bodies. To ensure that the tribals continue to enjoy the control of the local councils, provision was incorporated in the Act that non-tribals could not become chairmen of these bodies. The councils were also given power to raise tribal police.
The root of the current controversy Is the demand by the Tribal Students' body for the dissolution of these elected bodies. APSU and some political leaders, by giving support to this demand, has given it added credibility. The point to be made here is that the Tribal students' body has not given any specific reason for its demand except tnat the election was held during the discredited Ershad regime. It might be recalled that this election to the local body was hailed by national and foreign observers to have been very fair and free. Following the election and the setting up of the councils more than 22.000 refugees have returned to Bangladesh, according to official figures. This is as strong an indication as there can be that the problems is moving towards a possible solution.
At this Juncture we have the demand for the dissolution of the local government by the Tribal students. If we do so. for the sake of argument, then we are back to square one. Where do we go from there. Is it the system that is being objected to. or is it the people who have been elected ? In case of the latter the next election will be due in January '92 when a new set of’people could assume control of the local bodies.
Since there is no clear articulation of alternatives and since a form of representative body is already in place and a process of resolution to the decades long problem has been set into motion, it is our view that any drastic change now may lead to further complication of the complex tribal problem and we may lose whatever little that has Seen gained through years of peace negotiations. It is to the credit of the major political parties that they have not made the Hill Tract problem an election issue. Given the sensitive nature of the problem and the fluid state in which our national politics is now in. we urge our leaders.
To examine the Hill Tract issue in great details before making public pronouncements on it. In fact it is highly advisable that all leading political parties should have consultation among themselves on this vital national issue and try to adopt a collective position. This will give sufficient strength and the necessary public support to the process of finding a durable solution lo this complicated and territorially important problem.