Regarding interventions against handing over of the administration of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to the DGFI, mandating the State sponsored vigilante group PCJSS to draft anti-terrorism policy, extending democracy denied for the last 37 years further and continuing acts of racial discrimination by providing free food rations to implanted majority plain settlers in the CHT
Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), an NGO having Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), is writing to seek urgent interventions with Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tarique Rahman during his forthcoming visit to the General Assembly in New York regarding measures taken against indigenous peoples of the trouble-torn Chittagong Hill Tracts in the last one month i.e. (1) handing over trouble-torn Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to the military intelligence, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) on 10 September 2026 for administration; (2) assigning the State sponsored indigenous armed group, Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) to draft recommendations on “combating terrorism” on 10 September 2026; (3) extending further denial of elections in the local government bodies of the CHT for the last 37 years on 20 August 2026; and (4) continuing policy of racial discrimination of providing free rations to the 25,997 Muslim settler families implanted in the CHT to reduce indigenous peoples into a minority in their homeland.
Apart from addressing the UN General Assembly on 22 September, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to exchange views with representatives of international charitable and humanitarian organisations at a breakfast meeting and further address the global inequality crisis, jointly organised by Brazil, South Africa, Norway and Spain on 23 September 2026.
The detailed incontrovertible facts regarding the issues raised above are given below:
1. Handing over trouble-torn Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to the military intelligence, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) on 10 September 2026
In the name of developing National Strategy on the CHT, the Government of Bangladesh handed over the CHT to the feared DGFI. On 10 September 2026, Bangladesh formed three Committees on the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) affairs i.e. National Committee[1], Executive Committee[2] and Advisory Committee[3] to formulate the National Strategy on the Chittagong Hill Tracts within the next 90 days. The Director General of the DGFI serves as the Secretary of the National Committee headed by Prime Minister and the Chief Convenor of the Executive Committee and therefore, has been assigned the responsibility of the CHT. About 52 prominent citizens of Bangladesh in a joint statement warned that the “the move could increase militarisation and lead to further rights violations in the region” and “that the CHT crisis was fundamentally a national and political issue that required a political solution rather than a security-driven approach”.[4]
One of the key tasks of the Executive Committee is to “review of the existing laws, the provisions of the CHT Accord or the constitutional provisions relating to the CHT or their amendments, reforms or new legislation”.
The National Strategy on the CHT appears to be a means to interpret the principle of equality in a manner that undermines the existing safeguards and preferential measures for the indigenous peoples of the CHT, by giving so-called equal rights to about 400,000 majority Muslim settlers implanted in the CHT between 1979 and 1983[5] to reduce indigenous peoples into a minority on their own lands. There are apprehensions that the Government of Bangladesh will end reservation of the indigenous/tribal people of the region in the Chairmanship and membership of the three Hill District Councils[6] and CHT Regional Council[7] and public employment by these Councils. There are also concerns that the existing legal distinction between tribals and non-tribals, including distinctions based on permanent residency and ownership of land[8] could be weakened or removed. These preferential treatments are given to indigenous peoples under Article 29(2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh[9] which empowers the State for “making special provision in favour of any backward section of citizens for the purpose of securing their adequate representation in the service of the Republic”. This is also in compliance with the Article 1(4) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) ratified by Bangladesh which states that “Special measures taken for the sole purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order to ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms shall not be deemed racial discrimination”.[10]
ACHR’s detailed concerns about the National Strategy on the CHT Affairs can be found in our briefing paper titled, Bangladesh: Indigenous Peoples Face Threat Of Ethnocide As The DGFI Given Charge of the CHT, dated 15 September 2026.
2. Assigning the State sponsored indigenous armed group, Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) to draft recommendations on “combating terrorism” on 10 September 2026
The PCJSS was an insurgent organisation representing indigenous peoples of the CHT and it signed the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord of 1997. However, the PCJSS did not fully disarm and the government of Bangladesh allowed it to re-arm after handing over the responsibility to run the CHT Regional Council without elections since its establishment in 1998.[11] The PCJSS enjoying the statutory powers has become the State mercenary group.
In April 2010, the CHT Regional Council, the key outcome of the CHT Accord[12], was declared unconstitutional by the High Court of Bangladesh on the ground that the State’s unitary character, which is the basic feature of the constitution, has been hampered due to formation of the Regional Council.[13] An appeal was filed against the High Court judgment and the CHT Regional Council has been functioning based on a stay granted by the Supreme Court for the last 15 years. For the last 15 years, the appeal has not been decided by the Supreme Court.[14]
The power and resources of the CHT Regional Council and threat to have it declared ‘unconstitutional’ by the Supreme Court has been used by the Bangladesh government to turn the PCJSS into a State sponsored vigilante group to silence any demand for democracy in the CHT, engage with various indigenous armed groups, mostly created by the Bangladesh Army to justify the presence of the Bangladesh Army and further violate human rights of indigenous peoples through this State sponsored vigilante group.
The PCJSS enjoys the statutory powers under the CHT Regional Council Act but it is allowed to maintain an armed group. The PCJSS is a State sponsored armed group standout from the following facts:
- The PCJSS has been described as a terrorist organisation by the Gauhati High Court of India in its judgment in the case of National Investigation Agency v. Rohmingliana on 5th September 2024;[15]
- The PCJSS armed cadres are regularly arrested in India for arms trafficking including on 12 February 2025[16] and 4 August 2026[17];
- The PCJSS armed combatants are arrested in India including on 4 June 2025,[18] and 26 February 2026;[19]
- The PCJSS cadres are allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the “New Golden Triangle”[20] consisting of Myanmar, North East India and the CHT and Cox’s Bazaar of Bangladesh; and
- The PCJSS armed cadres regularly engage in the killing of indigenous peoples, often described as fratricidal killings[21] and hundreds have been killed by this State sponsored vigilante group.[22]
Yet, instead of addressing this State sponsored terrorism in CHT, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has taken another step – on 10 September 2026, the government of Bangladesh included the representative of the Chairman of the CHT Regional Council i.e. President of the PCJSS as a member of the Advisory Committee to make recommendations in the next 60 days on “combating terrorism”.[23] It is an irony that an armed group that operates in the CHT of Bangladesh, India[24] and Myanmar is assigned the responsibility to combat terrorism in the CHT.
3. Extending the denial of elections in the local government bodies of the CHT for the last 37 years on 20 August 2026
On 20 August 2026, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman government reconstituted the Bandarban Hill District Council, Khagrachari Hill District Council and Rangamati Hill District Council without elections.[25] The laws establishing these Hill District Councils require the holding of elections every five years but no election has been held in these District Councils for the last 37 years since 1989.[26] The first elections to the Hill District Councils were held on 25 June 1989 under the military government of General H M Ershad.[27]
There has also been no election to the CHT Regional Council since its establishment under the CHT Regional Council Act in 1998.[28] As stated, the CHT Regional Council has been used by the successive governments of Bangladesh to keep a state sponsored vigilante group in the CHT i.e. insurgent Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), the signatory to the Accord to violate human rights of the indigenous peoples.
4. Continuing policy of racial discrimination of providing free rations to the 25,997 Muslim settler families implanted in the CHT to reduce indigenous peoples into a minority in their homeland
As stated about 400,000 majority Muslim settlers were implanted in the CHT between 1979 and 1983[29] to reduce indigenous peoples into a minority on their own lands. In 1988, the Government of Bangladesh started the programme to move them to cluster villages when the insurgency was alive.[30]
In 1997, the CHT Accord was signed and there is no insurgency. However, to ensure that these Muslim settlers do not leave the CHT and they have competitive advantage over the indigenous peoples in daily life, the Government of Bangladesh continues to provide free food rations to about 25,997 Muslim settler families living in cluster villages including 24,511 families in Khagrachari district and 1,486 families in Rangamati district.[31] On 2 September 2024, the Ministry of CHT Affairs sanctioned 12,000 metric tons of rice and 16,288 metric tons of wheat for these Muslim settler families and such allocations are made regularly throughout the year.[32] A total of 2,12,165 implanted Muslim settlers from 53,855 families have been living in 81 Guchhagram (cluster villages) in Khagrachari district alone.[33]
This provision of free food rations to the implanted Muslim settlers who in the first place had displaced the indigenous peoples is nothing but an act of racial discrimination.
5. Request for interventions
We request the international community to urge Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to:
- Withdraw the notifications regarding formation of the National Committee, Executive Committee and Advisory Committee on the CHT Affairs and establish a new National Committee through an inclusive, transparent and participatory process, with the meaningful participation of the indigenous peoples of the region and with due regard to their collective rights, land rights, traditional institutions, political representation and cultural identity;
- remove the PCJSS from the CHT Regional Council and take necessary legal measures against maintaining an armed group while enjoying the statutory powers of the CHT Regional Council;
- facilitate the holding of elections to the Hill District Councils and the CHT Regional Council, thereby enabling the CHT to be administered through accountable civilian institutions;
- stop free rations to the majority Muslim settlers living inside cluster villages in the Chittagong Hill Tracts; and
- implement the CHT Accord, including the withdrawal of the Bangladesh Army and the disarmament of the PCJSS armed cadres.
Asian Centre for Human Rights
[1]. The gazette notification for establishment of the National Committee on CHT Affairs can be at https://www.dpp.gov.bd/upload_file/gazettes/62908_87607.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawUVvyxwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMWwwdXVadXprcW9ETldKUWtzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeZ7WdRa0tKLXcTetTkDuLO_Id5rz9kLkHxbxWZXqV10OAgzXiICEIFhqla9s_aem_mJpT7dTrLiLPrad5xpzKfw
[2]. The gazette notification for establishment of the Executive Committee on CHT Affairs can be at https://www.dpp.gov.bd/upload_file/gazettes/62909_83203.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawUVv3lwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMWwwdXVadXprcW9ETldKUWtzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeZ7WdRa0tKLXcTetTkDuLO_Id5rz9kLkHxbxWZXqV10OAgzXiICEIFhqla9s_aem_mJpT7dTrLiLPrad5xpzKfw
[3]. The gazette notification for establishment of the Advisory Committee on CHT Affairs can be at https://www.dpp.gov.bd/upload_file/gazettes/62910_45457.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawUVv4lwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMWwwdXVadXprcW9ETldKUWtzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeCBQ5cas8ZVVf0WoP0Vc5dKnBtW9VayxWidFEZCPrI7Y2djJ2y9ZAxntjrKA_aem_s0xw4iHYEKCkOx-n_75nOA
[4]. 52 citizens voice concern over new CHT committees, The New Age, 15 September 2026, https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/313883/52-citizens-voice-concern-over-new-cht-committees
[5]. ‘Life Is not Ours’ – Land and Human Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, 28 May 1991, https://www.iwgia.org/en/publications/life-is-not-ours-land-and-human-rights-in-the-chittagong-hill-tracts-bangladesh
[6]. ‘Life Is not Ours’ – Land and Human Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, 28 May 1991, https://www.iwgia.org/en/publications/life-is-not-ours-land-and-human-rights-in-the-chittagong-hill-tracts-bangladesh
[7]. The details of the CHT Regional Council can be found at https://chtrc.gov.bd/
[8]. Under the Hill District Council Act, “A-upajatiyo stayi bashida/non-tribal permanent resident is defined as “who is not a tribal and who has valid lands who has a definite address in the Hill districts”. Details can be seen under 2(ka) of the Bandarban Hill District Council Act at https://sorongbd.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF-%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE-%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B7%E0%A6%A6-%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%A8.pdf
[9]. Article 29 of the Constitution of Bangladesh relating to equality of opportunity in public employment states can be accessed at https://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24577.html
[10] . The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination can be accessed at https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-elimination-all-forms-racial
[11]. The CHT Regional Council Act can be accessed at https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/bgd165438.pdf
[12]. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord of 1997 can be accessed at https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/default/files/document/files/2024/05/bd971202chittagong20hill20tracts20peace20accord.pdf
[13]. CHT Regional Council: SC hearing on HC order adjourned for 4 weeks, The Daily Star, 6 March 2018, https://www.thedailystar.net/country/chittagong-hill-tracts-regional-council-supreme-court-hearing-on-high-court-order-adjourned-for-4-weeks-1544311
[14]. 28yrs of peace accord: Appeals on CHT regional council stuck for 14 years, The Daily Star, 1 December 2025, https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/28yrs-peace-accord-appeals-cht-regional-council-stuck-14-years-4048411
[15]. The National Investigation Agency v. Rohmingliana, Gauhati High Court, 5 September 2024, https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/66de966f8497f8199b7c1bfc
[16]. Mizoram arms haul: 3 held with AK-47s, M4 carbines, The Times of India, 12 February 2025, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/mizoram-arms-haul-3-held-with-ak-47s-m4-carbines/articleshow/118188444.cms
[17]. Mizoram Police seize 7 AK rifles, 2,050 rounds near Myanmar border; 3 held, The Times of India, 4 August 2026, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/mizoram-police-seize-7-ak-rifles-2050-rounds-near-myanmar-border-3-held/articleshowprint/132860084.cms
[18]. 13 cadres of Bangladeshi outfit arrested in Tripura after illegal entry, The East Mojo, 4 June 2025, https://eastmojo.com/free-digest/2025/06/04/13-cadres-of-bangladeshi-outfit-arrested-in-tripura-after-illegal-entry/
[19]. BSF arrests alleged PCJSS cadre at Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura, 23 February 2026, https://www.borderlens.com/2026/02/23/bsf-arrests-alleged-pcjss-cadre-at-indo-bangladesh-border-in-tripura/
[20].‘New Golden Triangle’ of drug trafficking emerging across Burma, India, and Bangladesh, warns expert, The Mid Day, 22 October 2025, https://www.mid-day.com/news/india-news/article/new-golden-triangle-of-drug-trafficking-emerging-across-burma-india-and-bangladesh-warns-expert-23599762
[21]. 3 killed in gunfight between UPDF, JSS factions in Khagrachhari, Views Bangladesh, 3 July 2026, https://viewsbangladesh.com/3-killed-in-gunfight-between-updf-jss-factions-in-khagrachhari/
[22]. Bangladesh: Factional Killings In Chittagong Hill Tracts – Analysis, Eurasia Review, 21 December 2021, https://www.eurasiareview.com/21122021-bangladesh-factional-killings-in-chittagong-hill-tracts-analysis/
[23]. The gazette notification for establishment of the Advisory Committee on CHT Affairs can be at https://www.dpp.gov.bd/upload_file/gazettes/62910_45457.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawUVv4lwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMWwwdXVadXprcW9ETldKUWtzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeCBQ5cas8ZVVf0WoP0Vc5dKnBtW9VayxWidFEZCPrI7Y2djJ2y9ZAxntjrKA_aem_s0xw4iHYEKCkOx-n_75nOA
[24]. Protesters demand crackdown on B’deshi armed group in Tripura, 12 August 2025, The Times of India, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/protesters-demand-crackdown-on-bdeshi-armed-group-in-tripura/articleshowprint/123264549.cms
[25]. Govt reconstitutes hill district councils, The Daily Star, 21 August 2026, https://www.thedailystar.net/news/politics/news/3-hill-dist-councils-reconstituted-4253816
[26]. Transferring control of local govt bodies in hill tracts to CHT ministry recommended, BSS News, 23 February 2025, https://www.bssnews.net/news/248862
[27]. Bangladesh Tries to Dampen Ethnic Insurgency With Ballots, By Barbara Crossette, Special To the New York Times, 26 June 1989, https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/26/world/bangladesh-tries-to-dampen-ethnic-insurgency-with-ballots.html
[28]. CHT Regional, District Councils, No election in two decades, 20 July 2018, https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/no-election-two-decades-1608802
[29]. ‘Life Is not Ours’ – Land and Human Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, 28 May 1991, https://www.iwgia.org/en/publications/life-is-not-ours-land-and-human-rights-in-the-chittagong-hill-tracts-bangladesh
[30]. Food ration in hills Tk 100cr a year, Most beneficiaries of public money Bangalee settlers, The Daily Star, 24 March 2010, https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-131468
[31]. The details can be found in official website of Khagrachari district at https://khagrachhari.gov.bd/pages/static-pages/6991008135ce18e1c0732f26
[32]. Documents available with Asian Centre for Human Rights
[33]. The details can be found in official website of Khagrachari district at https://khagrachhari.gov.bd/pages/static-pages/6991008135ce18e1c0732f26
