Dhaka: Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina today said most of the clauses of the landmark ‘Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Treaty’ have been fully implemented or under process for execution.

‘We are working with utmost sincerity for speedy implementation of the clauses that are yet to be executed,’ she said in reply to a question from independent lawmaker Ushatan Talukdar (Rangamati) during her question-answer session in the House.

The Premier said a three-member CHT Agreement Execution Committee has been constituted with Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury as its convener to implement and monitor the accord.

The committee, she said, has been working to implement the treaty, and the people of the CHT region witnessed massive development in different fields including health, education, communication and socioeconomic uplift thanks to execution of the agreement.

The Leader of the House said today (February 10) is a historic day for the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

‘After signing of the treaty on December 2 in 1997, on this day in 1998, the armed ‘Shanti Bahini’ members surrendered their arms to the Awami League government as per the conditions of the agreement ending decades-old bloody conflict in the region,’ she said.

Highlighting the background of starting unrest in the CHT region, the Prime Minister said bloody conflicts commenced in the region after the brutal assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

She said the Chittagong Hill Tracts was a troubled region from 1975 to 1996.  It’s a matter of regret that the governments during the 1975-96 period could not play an effective role in restoring peace in the region because of their wrong policies and lack of sincerity, she said.

In this connection, Sheikh Hasina said, after returning home in 1981 I have announced that the CHT problem is a ‘political problem’ and it will have to be solved politically, not by military force.

‘The Awami League government and (CHT) the Janasanghati Samity inked the treaty through discussion and we did not involve any foreign force or others...we saw this problem as a ‘political one’ and it was not possible to solve it militarily,’ she said.

‘The problem must be solved politically as the CHT is a territory of independent Bangladesh and the people of the region are the citizens of the country...they are the companions of our happiness and sorrow, if they have any anguish or resentment it’s our responsibility to solve it,’ she added.