CHT accord movement backs BNP ‘Rainbow Nation’ vision, calls for retribution of state minister portfolio
PARBATTANEWS DESK
A group named the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord Implementation Movement has issued a statement welcoming the BNP’s pledge to build a multi-ethnic “Rainbow Nation”, while also opposing the government’s decision to appoint a state minister to the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs and calling for a redistribution of portfolios.
In a statement sent to the media on Monday, 23 February, the organisation congratulated the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its chairperson Tarique Rahman on forming a new government after what it described as a sweeping public mandate in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election.
The group said it expects that under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the new democratic journey of Bangladesh will prioritise implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Accord, alongside ensuring the rights of ethnic and religious minorities and the human rights of all marginalised communities.
In the statement, the organisation said it is “observing” that the newly formed cabinet has appointed a member of the hill communities as full minister for the CHT affairs ministry, while naming a Bengali as state minister.
The group claimed the arrangement is not consistent with the CHT Accord signed on 2 December 1997. However, the statement did not mention which clause of the accord it believes has been violated.
The statement was signed by the organisation’s joint coordinators—human rights activist Zakir Hossain and Professor Khairul Islam Chowdhury.
Meanwhile, several organisations from both the hills and the plains have welcomed the appointments—of a hill community member as minister and a Bengali as state minister—as aligned with the BNP’s “Rainbow Nation” pledge.
However, parbattanews has learned through its inquiry that the organisation’s “observation” is not accurate.
The Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs—formed to ensure balanced development, including socio-economic progress and infrastructure, for both Bengali and hill communities living in Khagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban—has previously seen non-hill individuals appointed as ministers or advisers.
