Land Dispute Settlement: A Key Issue to Ensure Long-lasting Peace in Chattogram Hill Tracts

Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) constitutes nearly 10% of the total landmass of Bangladesh. Extremely beautiful, yet this part of Bangladesh was ravaged by almost 27 years of insurgency. It indeed came to a formal end with the signing of the historic Peace Agreement between the Government of Bangladesh...

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Main Author: Muhammad Ali Haider Siddiqui
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Administrasi Publik FISIP UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung 2024-08-01
Series:Journal of Current Social and Political Issues
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ejournal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/jcspi/article/view/754
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author Muhammad Ali Haider Siddiqui
author_facet Muhammad Ali Haider Siddiqui
author_sort Muhammad Ali Haider Siddiqui
collection DOAJ
description Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) constitutes nearly 10% of the total landmass of Bangladesh. Extremely beautiful, yet this part of Bangladesh was ravaged by almost 27 years of insurgency. It indeed came to a formal end with the signing of the historic Peace Agreement between the Government of Bangladesh and Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS) on 02 December 1997. So far, 48 out of the 72 clauses have already been implemented and the rest are in the process. The land issue is one of the major issues that have beset the progress of the agreement. Most communal clashes and unwanted situations usually erupt from disputes over the possession of the land. To settle the land disputes, a commission was formed in 2001 in light of the CHT agreement. The government has recently amended the Land Commission Act 2001 into 2016 as per the demand of the tribal leadership. The amendment has been viewed as discriminatory by the Bengali community, which fears losing their land rights if it is implemented. Against this backdrop, the research was undertaken to identify the probable challenges for the Land Commission to settle the land disputes and suggest a comprehensive modality to resolve the crisis.  The study followed a mixed method methodology. During the study, issues like the credibility of the Commission, the land management system in CHT, communal disharmony, absence of a cadastral survey, the security situation, and conflicting issues of the amended Land Commission Act -2016, came out as the major challenges and impediments to the peaceful resolution of land disputes.The study suggests a consensual approach of the Government and concerned stakeholders to address the identified issues in order to resolve land disputes in CHT. As this also bears significant importance in the full implementation of the hard-earned CHT Agreement, any delay in the settlement of land disputes would presumably complicate the situation and likely make the overall security environment of the CHT region unstable once again.
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spelling doaj-art-44d5bb8c1e6848b7bb7ee49e2bd1fa882025-08-20T02:11:30ZengAdministrasi Publik FISIP UIN Sunan Gunung Djati BandungJournal of Current Social and Political Issues3026-48712024-08-012210211210.15575/jcspi.v2i2.754785Land Dispute Settlement: A Key Issue to Ensure Long-lasting Peace in Chattogram Hill TractsMuhammad Ali Haider Siddiqui0Bangladesh University of Professionals, Mirpur, Dhaka-1216Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) constitutes nearly 10% of the total landmass of Bangladesh. Extremely beautiful, yet this part of Bangladesh was ravaged by almost 27 years of insurgency. It indeed came to a formal end with the signing of the historic Peace Agreement between the Government of Bangladesh and Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS) on 02 December 1997. So far, 48 out of the 72 clauses have already been implemented and the rest are in the process. The land issue is one of the major issues that have beset the progress of the agreement. Most communal clashes and unwanted situations usually erupt from disputes over the possession of the land. To settle the land disputes, a commission was formed in 2001 in light of the CHT agreement. The government has recently amended the Land Commission Act 2001 into 2016 as per the demand of the tribal leadership. The amendment has been viewed as discriminatory by the Bengali community, which fears losing their land rights if it is implemented. Against this backdrop, the research was undertaken to identify the probable challenges for the Land Commission to settle the land disputes and suggest a comprehensive modality to resolve the crisis.  The study followed a mixed method methodology. During the study, issues like the credibility of the Commission, the land management system in CHT, communal disharmony, absence of a cadastral survey, the security situation, and conflicting issues of the amended Land Commission Act -2016, came out as the major challenges and impediments to the peaceful resolution of land disputes.The study suggests a consensual approach of the Government and concerned stakeholders to address the identified issues in order to resolve land disputes in CHT. As this also bears significant importance in the full implementation of the hard-earned CHT Agreement, any delay in the settlement of land disputes would presumably complicate the situation and likely make the overall security environment of the CHT region unstable once again.https://ejournal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/jcspi/article/view/754land disputesland commission act 2016land management in chtsecurity situation
spellingShingle Muhammad Ali Haider Siddiqui
Land Dispute Settlement: A Key Issue to Ensure Long-lasting Peace in Chattogram Hill Tracts
Journal of Current Social and Political Issues
land disputes
land commission act 2016
land management in cht
security situation
title Land Dispute Settlement: A Key Issue to Ensure Long-lasting Peace in Chattogram Hill Tracts
title_full Land Dispute Settlement: A Key Issue to Ensure Long-lasting Peace in Chattogram Hill Tracts
title_fullStr Land Dispute Settlement: A Key Issue to Ensure Long-lasting Peace in Chattogram Hill Tracts
title_full_unstemmed Land Dispute Settlement: A Key Issue to Ensure Long-lasting Peace in Chattogram Hill Tracts
title_short Land Dispute Settlement: A Key Issue to Ensure Long-lasting Peace in Chattogram Hill Tracts
title_sort land dispute settlement a key issue to ensure long lasting peace in chattogram hill tracts
topic land disputes
land commission act 2016
land management in cht
security situation
url https://ejournal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/jcspi/article/view/754
work_keys_str_mv AT muhammadalihaidersiddiqui landdisputesettlementakeyissuetoensurelonglastingpeaceinchattogramhilltracts