Tuesday, 22 Sep 2026
TRENDINGNEWS
Army Order Demolition of Jumma House in Bilaichari, Allegedly Plot Tourism Project by Evicting Jumma People PCP and HWF hold processions and rallies in Dhaka, CU, Bandaban and Rangamati on Education Day demanding quota reinstatement along with other demands Vehicles keep running despite strike of UPDF, threats to evict and shoot villagers A Marma teenager allegedly gang-raped in Ruma, the accused arrested PCP Kawkhali Conference Urges Students to Join Movement for CHT Accord Implementation Three high-level committees formed on CHT, questions raised Suspicious Death of Indigenous Santal Woman in Rupganj: Family Demands Investigation Infiltrated 9 Rohingyas detained in Longadu, who is bringing them? Army Order Demolition of Jumma House in Bilaichari, Allegedly Plot Tourism Project by Evicting Jumma People PCP and HWF hold processions and rallies in Dhaka, CU, Bandaban and Rangamati on Education Day demanding quota reinstatement along with other demands Vehicles keep running despite strike of UPDF, threats to evict and shoot villagers A Marma teenager allegedly gang-raped in Ruma, the accused arrested PCP Kawkhali Conference Urges Students to Join Movement for CHT Accord Implementation Three high-level committees formed on CHT, questions raised Suspicious Death of Indigenous Santal Woman in Rupganj: Family Demands Investigation Infiltrated 9 Rohingyas detained in Longadu, who is bringing them?
International April 24, 2026

Priti Bindu Chakma delivers speech on Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples at 25th session of UNPFII

Hill Voice, 24 April 2026, International Desk: Representative of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) Priti Bindu Chakma has delivered his speech on agenda item 5(a): “Dialogue with Indigenous Peoples (closed meeting) [Interactive dialogue]” on 23 April 2026 at the 25th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).

The 25th session of the UNPFII has started at the UN headquarters in New York on 20 April 2026 and will end on 1 May 2026.

Three representatives of the PCJSS, namely, Chanchana Chakma, Augustina Chakma and Priti Bindu Chakma, are attending the session while Pallab Chakma, Secretary General of AIPP, Dr. Binota Moy Dhamai of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) and Toni Chiran of BIYP are also attending the session on behalf of indigenous peoples of Bangladesh.

In his statement, Priti Bindu Chakma said, “Treaties and constructive arrangements are foundational legal instruments between Indigenous peoples and States, focusing on the rights to land, resources, and self-determination. Grounded in UN standards, they are meant to be honored in their original spirit and intent.

In 1997, such an agreement was signed in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh between the Government of Bangladesh and the indigenous Jumma people, which came to be known as the ‘CHT Accord.’ Although twenty-eight years have elapsed since the signing of this accord, two-thirds of its clauses—including its fundamental provisions—remain unimplemented.

Following the national parliamentary elections held in Bangladesh on February 12, a BNP government led by Tarique Rahman has been formed. Since assuming state power, the current government has not yet taken any initiatives to implement the CHT Accord. The current government has appointed an indigenous Member of Parliament (MP)—elected from the Rangamati constituency—as the Minister for the Ministry of CHT Affairs. However, alongside him, a non-indigenous MP was also appointed as the State Minister within the same ministry—a move that stands in contradiction to the core spirit of the CHT Accord. Despite demands from the civil society of the CHT region and the country, the aforementioned State Minister has not yet been transferred from the Ministry of CHT Affairs to another ministry.

It is to say with pain that in 2024, 142 people from the Bawm Indigenous community were arrested following looting of a bank by a small armed Bawm group known as KNF in Bandarban district. Arrested were youths, old, housewives, students, a pregnant woman and a mother with a three-year-old child. The authority released 80 persons, three died because of want of medical treatment and 59 are still languishing in the jail.

We the Jumma people still wish to place our trust in the current government of Bangladesh regarding the implementation of the CHT Accord. Therefore, from this session of the Permanent Forum, I call upon the Government of Bangladesh: come forward and take steps to implement the CHT Accord, and release the innocent Bawm people immediately.”