THE return of the first batch of Chakma refugees from camps in India begins the end of an 11-year-old stalemate that soured relations between India and Bangladesh.
As per the agreement between the Bangladesh government and refugee leaders, the 50,000 refugees are scheduled to return to the Chittagong Hill Tracts by April-end. The refugees had fled to the Indian state of Tripura in ’86 following a crackdown by Bangladesh forces on suspected tribal insurgents. The situation had worsened by the end of the ’70s when over 200,000 Bengali settlers were brought in from the plains with the help of the army in what was seen as an attempt to undermine the 500,000-member tribal population.
The refugee leaders have now apparently accepted that a separate hill council for the tribal people cannot be created as the Awami League does not have the required majority in Parliament to carry through a constitutional amendment. However, the government has agreed to dismantle temporary army camps scattered along the border though not the permanent military establishments.
The real breakthrough, say some observers, came because of the change of attitude in New Delhi which seems keen on improving ties with Bangladesh. "The tribals have understood that New Delhi is not willing to sustain them indefinitely and they must come to terms with Dhaka," said a Bangladesh foreign ministry official. "It라이브 바카라 the transparency of the new government that is the main factor," said Abul Hasnat Abdullah, parliamentary chief whip and chairman of the National Committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts.
바카라 웹사이트The Opposition, however, claims that it has not been taken into confidence in what is a serious national issue. "We really don’t know what라이브 바카라 going on," said Abdul Mannan Bhuyian, secretary general of the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He claimed the government has given in to the tribals’ demand of removing the military from the region and may have compromised the interests of the Bengali settlers in the hills who have threatened to start large-scale agitations if they are shifted out.
