Land Rights of Indigenous People in CHT: An Unsettled Issue

Abstract

One of the unsettled issues in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is the land dispute. They have been deprived of land rights often in many ways. And this deprivation has been getting more day by day. There are reasons behind it. We know that the land administration system, cultivation system, ownership and possession system of the CHT all are totally different than the other areas of Bangladesh. That’s why their customary laws regarding land rights are not consistent all the time with our Constitution or the laws. So, that’s how the land disputes arise basically. There are some loopholes in “the CHT Peace Accord” and its subsequent statutes. Two writs were filed challenging those laws and ‘peace accord’ is unconstitutional. In these laws or ‘peace accord’ a few issues were upheld for the CHT indigenous people. Even our govt. does not recognize them yet and have not enacted any special provision for them so that they can get rid of the deprivation of land rights. In this thesis paper consisting four chapters I tried to uphold the background history of the unsettled land rights issue, behind the reasons that the indigenous people in CHT have been depriving of their land rights, the inconsistency with the CHT customary law with the Constitution of Bangladesh or statutory laws as well as I tried to uphold what kind of international obligations Bangladesh has towards the indigenous people of the CHT. At last, I added a recommendation section where I tried to say that why we should acknowledge them and how their land rights should be ensured.