Empowering the General People is Key to Peace in the Hills
(Part 3)
Nearly three decades after the establishment of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS) and its armed wing, Shanti Bahini, the historic Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord was signed on December 2, 1997, with the then-Awami League government. Subsequently, the agreement was implemented through legislative enactments, including the three Hill District Council Acts, the Regional Council Act, and the Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act. However, because several provisions conflicted with the Constitution of Bangladesh, writ petitions were filed in the High Court challenging their legal validity.
In response to Writ Petition Nos. 2669/2000 and 6451/2007, the High Court delivered a landmark ruling on April 12 and 13, 2010, declaring the Regional Council and its governing legislation unconstitutional. The High Court questioned Section 4(6) of the amended Hill District Council Acts regarding permanent resident certificates issued by Headmen and Circle Chiefs. Furthermore, the court invalidated Section 17(4), which required land ownership to vote in local elections, observing that this provision unconstitutionally disenfranchised non-tribal residents within the CHT region.
The High Court also ruled against Section 32(2) of the Act, which prioritized tribal candidates for Class III and Class IV council positions, and Section 62(1), which favored tribal candidates in police recruitment. The judges deemed these provisions discriminatory under Articles 27, 28(1), 29(1), and 29(2) of the Constitution. The court concluded that a priority policy based on ethnic differentiation without objective criteria constitutes illegal racial discrimination, rendering the relevant sections unconstitutional and legally void.
These pivotal constitutional challenges currently await final review hearings in the Appellate Division alongside other related legal disputes, including the Wagga Chara Tea Estate and Rangamati Food Products cases. Furthermore, although a gazette notification was published in 1989 repealing the CHT Regulation of 1900, it was never implemented, leading to inconsistent judicial opinions labeling it a dead law in some rulings and in force in others. Legal experts emphasize that resolving CHT complexities requires consolidating all pending cases for a definitive Appellate Division review.
Local governance in the region began in 1989 under the Local Government Councils, with direct public voting on June 25, 1989, yielding elected bodies in Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachhari. However, that remains the only election ever held in the region’s history. Despite having an original three-year tenure, these bodies have been administered by unelected representatives since 1992, creating a multi-decade void of democratic accountability across the three hill districts.
Following the 1997 Peace Accord, the local councils were converted into District Councils with expanded powers and substantial annual budget allocations, overseeing essential transferred departments like healthcare, education, agriculture, and tourism. Nevertheless, the absence of public mandates has severely compromised administrative accountability. Unchecked by voters, appointed council members have repeatedly faced allegations of focusing on personal gain through nepotism, recruitment trade, systematic corruption, and the systematic plundering of public resources allocated for hill development.
To coordinate the three District Councils, the Regional Council was established under the Accord, but no public election has ever been held for this apex institution, which has been controlled by the same individuals since 1999. Over nearly three decades, critics point out that the body has delivered minimal public benefit to hill residents. This led the High Court to strike down the institution as an unconstitutional structure, famously characterizing it as a government within a government.
Addressing recruitment practices, the three District Councils retain administrative authority over Class III and Class IV hiring across transferred departments. However, almost every hiring drive has encountered severe allegations of corruption and irregular appointments. The largest appointments involve assistant primary school teachers, where pervasive recruitment commerce has reportedly resulted in the hiring of individuals who lack basic classroom reading skills, attracting widespread public mockery and criticism from students and parents alike.
Seeking legal clarity after persistent protests against ethnic recruitment quotas, the Ministry of CHT Affairs and the Ministry of Public Administration consulted the Ministry of Law. On July 7, 2026, the Ministry of Law issued an official clarification stating, ‘Pursuant to High Court judgments and Public Administration notification Memo No. 141 dated July 23, 2024, there is no scope to give job recruitment preference to any specific ethnic group, community, or district residents.’ Consequently, stakeholders demand conducting future hill district recruitments through the Public Service Commission (PSC) to ensure constitutional, merit-based selection.
(To be continued)
