SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2195Indigenous People.—Tribal people have had a marginal ability to influence decisionsconcerning the use of their lands. The 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)Peace Accord has been in effect for 3 years, and has ended 25 years of insurgencyin the CHT, although law and order problems continue. Former insurgent leaderJotirindrio Bodhipriya Larma, alias Shantu Larma, has publicly questioned whetherthe Peace Accord has been implemented properly, and has urged prompt governmentaction to implement all provisions of the Accord. Confusion continues over theoverlapping responsibilities of the various central and local government bodies involvedin the Hill Tracts. The Land Commission that is to deal with land disputesbetween tribals and Bengali settlers does not yet function effectively in addressingcritical land disputes. Tribal leaders also have expressed disappointment at the lackof progress in providing assistance to tribals that left the area during the insurgency.Until 1985 the Government regularly allotted land in the CHT to Bengali settlers,including land that was claimed by indigenous people under traditional concepts ofland ownership. This led to the displacement of many tribal groups, such as theChakmas and Marmas. Bengali inhabitants in the CHT increased from 3 percentof the region’s population in 1947 to approximately 50 percent of the area’s populationof 1 million persons in 1997. The Shanti-Bahini, a tribal group, had wageda low-level conflict in the CHT from the early 1970’s until the signing of the peaceagreement with the Government in December 1997. During the periods of violence,all those involved—indigenous tribes, settlers, and security forces—accused eachother of human rights violations. The terms of the 1997 pact provided for a stronglocal government, consisting of mostly tribal representatives, including the chairperson;reduction of the military presence in the CHT region; and a substantial compensationpackage for displaced tribal families.Alfred Soren, a leader of the Santal tribe in the northern part of the country, waskilled and dozens of others were injured in an August 18 attack. According to onehuman rights organization, the perpetrators of the attack were Bengalis who wereangry with the tribals over a land dispute. Ninety persons were charged for involvementin the attack, but only four were arrested by year’s end. Court proceedingswere scheduled to begin at the end of January 2001.Tribal people in other areas also have reported problems of loss of land to BengaliMuslims through questionable legal practices and other means. The Garos of theModhupur forest region in the north-central part of the country continue to faceproblems in maintaining their cultural traditions and livelihoods in the face of deforestationand encroachment by surrounding Bengali communities. The pressure onthe Garo community has resulted in greater migration to urban areas and to theIndian state of Meghalaya, threatening the existence of an already small communityestimated at only 16,000 persons. The Government had indicated in 1995 that itwould establish a national park of 400 acres in the Mymensingh district. Part ofthe land would be taken from the Garo tribals. Action still is pending on that proposal.The Government has not ruled out moving the tribals from the land.Religious Minorities.—Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists constitute about 12 percentof the population.Local thugs and gang leaders sometimes attack religious minorities, perceivingthem to be weak and vulnerable. The Government sometimes has failed to criticize,investigate, and prosecute the perpetrators of these attacks. The Ahmadiyas, whommany mainstream Muslims consider heretical, have been the target of continued attacksand harassment. In March neighboring Muslims attacked and damaged 40houses belonging to Ahamdiyas at Krora and Nasirabad (Brahmanbaria district);they also captured a local Ahmadiya mosque. The mosque was returned to theAhmadiyas after a month-long negotiation. In 1999 in Kushtia mainstream Muslimscaptured another Ahmadiya mosque, which remains under police control, preventingAhmadiyas from worshipping. In November 1999, Sunni Muslims ransacked anAhmadiya mosque in the western part of the country. In October 1999, a bombkilled 6 Ahmadiyas and injured more than 40 others who were attending Fridayprayers at their mosque in Khulna; the case remained unresolved at year’s end.Religious minorities are disadvantaged in practice in such areas as access to governmentjobs and political office. Selection boards in the government services oftenlack minority group representation.Many Hindus have been unable to recover landholdings lost because of discriminationin the application of the law, especially the Vested Property Act. Propertyownership, particularly among Hindus, has been a contentious issue since partitionin 1947, when many Hindus fled, and again in 1971 when Bangladesh achievedindependence, and many Hindus lost land holdings because of anti-Hindu discriminationin the application of the law. Prior to its 1996 election victory, the AwamiLeague promised to repeal the Vested Property Act, the law used to deprive HindusVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1