Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman who was elected President of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session beginning on 8 September 2026 had stated that his presidency would focus on six broad priorities: peace and security; accelerating progress on the SDGs; climate action and environmental protection; human rights; governance of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and UN reform.[1]
I. Murder of democracy by Bangladesh as it holds UNGA Presidency
However, before Dr Rahman left for New York on 30 August 2026 for the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly,[2] the Government of Bangladesh murdered democracy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region, the homeland of majority indigenous peoples of the country on 20 August 2026. The Government of Bangladesh reconstituted the Bandarban Hill District Councils, Khagrachari Hill District Council and Rangamati Hill District Council without elections.[3] The laws establishing these Hill District Councils require the holding of elections every five years. There have been no elections in these District Councils since 1989 in the last 37 years.[4] The first elections to the Hill District Councils were held on 25 June 1989 under the military government of General H M Ershad.[5]
UNGA President Dr Rahman also failed on ‘peace and security’ in his own country. Apart from murdering democracy in the CHT, the much vaunted Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord of 1997[6] that brought insurgent Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) headed by Jyotirindra Bodhipriyo Larma alias Santu Larma has become a dead letter. Key provisions of the CHT Accord were not implemented at all, as highlighted below:
* Demilitarisation of the CHT following the surrender of the Shanti Bahinis, armed wing of the PCJSS, was agreed upon under the CHT Accord. Sub-section 17(a) under Section (D) (Gha) relating to rehabilitation, general amnesty and other matters of the CHT Accord provided that “after signing of the agreement…, all the temporary camps of military, Ansar and Village Defence Party shall be taken back to permanent installations except the border security force (BDR) and permanent cantonments (three at the three District Headquarters and Alikadam, Ruma and Dighinala) by phases and with this in view, the time limit shall be determined”. It further provided that “(b) the lands of camps and cantonments to be abandoned by military or para-military forces shall be either returned to the original owners or to the Hill District Councils”. The Government of Bangladesh not only failed to withdraw any of the 400 temporary military camps and return the lands to indigenous peoples but also continued to establish more military camps across the CHT. In 2026 the Bangladesh Army has started building infrastructure for a new cantonment in Naikhongchhari under Bandarban district including flag markings the site for the proposed cantonment.[7] On 25 August 2026, Defense Advisor Brigadier General Dr. AKM Shamshul Islam and Principal Staff Officer Lt. Gen. Mir Mushfiqur Rahman visited Bhagban Tilla Outpost under Khagrachari district and Udaypur Outpost under Rangamati district to explore the possibilities for establishing new brigade headquarters of the Border Guards Bangladesh.
* Land grabbing by about 400,000 Muslim settlers implanted into the CHT from 1979 to 1983 to reduce indigenous peoples into a minority on their own lands and the Bangladesh Army has been one of the most contested issues. In 2001, the CHT Land Commission Act was passed and the Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission was constituted. About 22,000 complaints of land grabbing were filed by indigenous peoples[8] but not a single dispute could be resolved. On 28 August 2025, retired Justice Muhammad Abdul Hafiz of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court was appointed as the new Chair of the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission but it has not been able to hold a single sitting to date.[9] As a result, about 43,000 indigenous refugees who returned from India after signing of the CHT Accord [10]also could not get back their lands.
* In order to keep the conflict alive in the CHT, 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. 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. The programme for the cluster villages was initiated in 1988[11] by General Ershad when the insurgency was alive. But free rations to the Muslim settlers are provided currently despite no insurgency both to ensure that these Muslim settlers do not leave the CHT and have competitive advantage over the indigenous peoples in daily life.
The Government of Bangladesh managed to get away by non-implementing the CHT Accord by allowing the insurgent Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), the signatory to the Accord to run the CHT Regional Council without any election or audit accountability since 1998. It further allowed the PCJSS to keep an armed group that engages in arms trafficking as per the Indian court judgment[12] and drug trafficking[13] as per media reports in neighbouring India.
II. Non-cooperation with the UN on human rights violations of indigenous peoples
Bangladesh has further refused to cooperate with the UN human rights mechanisms regarding violations of the rights of indigenous peoples.
On 24 September 2025, nine UN Special Rapproteurs, in a communication (Ref.: AL BGD 4/2025) to the Government of Bangladesh stated that on 12 September 2020, a joint venture was announced between the 24th Division and 69th Brigade of the Bangladesh Army, the Army Welfare Trust, and Sikder Group conglomerate company R&R Holdings Limited- for the construction of a large-scale tourism complex in Chimbuk, Bandarban district, in CHT. The proposed project covers an estimated 800–1,000 acres of land and reportedly includes a hotel, an amusement park, an artificial lake, residential quarters for army personnel, as well as extensive infrastructure such as roads, drainage and sewage systems, energy facilities, and cable cars connecting twelve hills. Despite widespread objections and protests from the local Mro Indigenous People and Indigenous student organizations, construction activities began in September 2020 and have continued without interruption. Reports indicate that the project already occupies approximately 500 acres of land. It is expected to directly displace at least 150 Mro families, with additional 250 families affected across a broader area of around 1,000 acres (405 hectares). Altogether, approximately 10,000 Indigenous persons face the risk of eviction.” The Special Rapportuers urged the Government of Bangladesh to “provide information on the measures taken to ensure that businesses, in particular commercial rubber businesses, tourism businesses such as Sikder Group conglomerate company R&R Holdings Limited, respect human rights in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” and “how the above-mentioned companies have meaningfully engaged with potentially affected stakeholders in accordance with Free Prior and Informed Consent requirements”. [14] The Government of Bangladesh is not known to have submitted any reply and the Government of Bangladesh has not taken any measures to ameliorate the situation. On 17 January 2026, at least 18 members of the indigenous Mro community were injured, eight of them critically, in an attack in Alikadam upazila of Bandarban by a group of Rohingya and other individuals.[15]
According to local sources, villagers were first attacked in the morning following a dispute over the alleged theft of crops from a community garden. Later the same day, another attack reportedly took place near the Nayapara graveyard while some villagers were returning home after contacting police.
The Government of Bangladesh also has not responded to the communication (Ref.: AL BGD 5/2025) of seven UN Special Rapporteurs relating to the killing of indigenous peoples on 28 September 2025 after the “majority Muslim settlers allegedly engaged in unprovoked attacks against the indigenous Jumma People” at Guimara under Khagrachari district of the CHT. The indigenous peoples were attacked while protesting against alleged gang rape of an indigenous girl on 23 September 2025. The UN Rapporteurs had stated, “the Bangladesh Army personnel allegedly opened fire on unarmed Indigenous protesters, resulting in the deaths of at least five individuals and injuries to more than forty others. Eyewitnesses described scenes of chaos and brutality, with soldiers and settlers jointly targeting demonstrators”.[16] Bangladesh once again has not responded to this communication.
III. Time for the International Community to Stand Up for Democracy in the CHT
The time has come for international community to urge Bangladesh and UNGA President of the 81st session Khalilur Rahman to keep the very promise he made for election as the President to focus on six broad priorities: peace and security; accelerating progress on the SDGs; climate action and environmental protection; human rights; governance of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, and UN reform. [17] Charity begins at home and Bangladesh must take measures.
The least international community can do is to call upon the Government of Bangladesh to hold elections in the three Hill District Councils and the CHT Regional Council and withhold any development cooperation projects with the Government of Bangladesh and these local government bodies in the CHT if no elections are held.
[1].UN General Assembly elects Bangladesh’s Rahman as next president, United Nations, 2 June 2026, https://www.un.org/en/desa/un-general-assembly-elects-bangladeshs-rahman-as-next-president
[2]. UNGA Presidency: Dr Khalilur leaves Dhaka for New York, Dhaka Tribune, 30 August 2026 https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/foreign-affairs/418708/unga-presidency-dr-khalilur-leaves-dhaka-for-new
[3]. Govt reconstitutes hill district councils, The Daily Star, 21 August 2026, https://www.thedailystar.net/news/politics/news/3-hill-dist-councils-reconstituted-4253816
[4]. https://www.bssnews.net/news/248862
[5]. 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
[6]. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord can be accessed at https://peacemaker.un.org/sites/default/files/document/files/2024/05/bd971202chittagong20hill20tracts20peace20accord.pdf
[7]. Bangladesh Army quietly laying groundwork for setting up new cantonment in Naikhongchhari, By Chandan Nandi, North East News, 1 August 2026, https://nenews.in/neighbours/bangladesh-army-quietly-laying-groundwork-for-setting-up-new-cantonment-in-naikhongchhari/59296/
[8]. https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/no-commission-place-resolve-chittagong-hill-tracts-crisis-biplobi-workers-party-1214731
[9]. https://thevoice.news/321137/28-years-after-cht-accord-indigenous-land-rights-remain-elusive/
[10]. This Is Our Home: Human Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Cultural Survival, 1 October 2024, https://www.culturalsurvival.org/fr/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/our-home-human-rights-chittagong-hill-tracts
[11].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
[12]. Judgment of Guwahati High Court in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Vs Rohimingliana @ Hmingte @ Hminga, dated 05.09.2024, https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/66de966f8497f8199b7c1bfc
[13]. Assam Rifles seizes meth worth Rs 10.43 crores, apprehends two in Mizoram, Northeast News, 21 June 2025, https://nenews.in/mizoram/assam-rifles-seizes-meth-worth-rs-10-43-crores-apprehends-two-in-mizoram/27611/
[14].Interventions of the UN Special Rapporteurs, 24 September 2024, https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=30359
[15]. 8 Mro critically injured in Bandarban attack: Police, The Daily Star, 18 January 2026, https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/8-mro-critically-injured-bandarban-attack-police-4083916
[16]. Interventions of the UN Special Rapporteurs, 22 October 2024, https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=30430
[17].UN General Assembly elects Bangladesh’s Rahman as next president, United Nations, 2 June 2026, https://www.un.org/en/desa/un-general-assembly-elects-bangladeshs-rahman-as-next-president
