Administrative setup in CHT
Introduction:
Before the British colonization, the vast area even beyond the present CHT region was independent kingdom. During the whole period of the Mughal rule in this Indian sub-continent, the Chakma Kings were internally supreme and externally free. In 1550 a Portuguese cartographer named Joa De Barros shown the Chakma kingdom on his map as the Feni river to the North, the Namre or Naf river to the south, the Lushai hills to the east and the sea to the west.
In 1763 Mr. Henry Verlest, the First Chief Officer of the Chittagong Council appointed by the East India Company officially proclaimed that the ‘tract’ bounded by the Nizampur road, Kuki territory, the Feni and Sangu rivers belonged to the Chakma Raja.
There had been no external interference by any outside power in the affairs of the CHT until 1787 when an agreement was signed with the British and the British colonization started since 1860. So the Kings of the CHT reigned independently during the whole pre-British Era.
During the British Period, the local administration of CHT was different from the other many areas of India sub-continent. The British has enacted the CHT Regulation in 1900. The Regulation also known as "CHT Manual" or "1900 Regulation." The nature of the Regulation is like a constitution.
In this period, CHT has enjoyed the "excluded area" status (Provisional India Act of 1935) with "inner line regulation," (CHT Manual) for the protection of the Indigenous people from the outsiders of CHT, under the direct control of the Governor of Bengal through Deputy Commissioner.
Since the birth of Islamic Republic of Pakistan it continued recognition of the Excluded Area status of the CHT introduced earlier by the British. The first Constitution gave its recognition in 1956, however the second Constitution introduced in 1962 changed the name of the status as Tribal Area keeping all the clauses of CHT Regulation 1900 in tact. The "inner line regulation" has been amended for easier settlement of outsiders.
The CHT Regulation 1 of 1900 has been weakened after many amendments by the successive governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh in favour of the non-indigenous people of the plains. During the period of Pakistan the Deputy Commissioners violating the Rule 38 and Rule 39 of the CHT Regulation 1900 had totally stopped meeting the Advisory Council formed by the Circle Chiefs and convening Chiefs’ Conference. The authority of administration has gone to the Pakistan Government through the Chittagong Divisional Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. In the Bangladesh Period, the government failed to recognized the "Tribal Inhabited Area" or even CHT as an "Autonomous region" in the Bangladesh Constitution or even didn't recognized the existence of the indigenous Jumma people of CHT in spite of strong demand of the people.
The change has come after the CHT Accord 1997 between the National Committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts, on behalf of the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, and the PCJSS, on behalf of the inhabitants of Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Government recognized CHT as a "Tribal Inhabited Area" and also compelled to accept the decentralized separate administrative structure under the Unitary Government system of Bangladesh. Noted that non-implementation of the CHT Accord is affecting the proper functioning of the CHT administration.
National Government set-up regarding CHT:
There is a separate ministry has been created namely Ministry of CHT Affairs in the cabinet Ministry of Bangladesh Government to administer the CHT centrally and more systematically and in the context of its nature and culture. Note that the Minister must be a Jumma and belong to CHT.
On the other, there are also Divisional Commissioner at division level, Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendent of Police (SPs) at district level and Upazila Nirbahi Officers at upazila (sub-district) level working in three hill districts as the representatives of national government. They work under Establishment Ministry. According to CHT Accord and CHT Act and HDCs, they shall discharge their duties under the direct supervision and coordination of CHTRC and HDCs. But till to-date they have been discharging their duties avoiding the CHTRC and HDCs.
Special Administrative System:
In the context of historical reality and economically, socially, culturally and politically distinctness of indigenous Jumma people from the majority peoples of the Bangladesh, the CHT Accord provides to introduce special administrative system for CHT with CHT Regional Council (CHTRC) and three Hill District Councils (HDCs).
The CHTRC is composed of 22 members with 2/3 indigenous representation including its Chairperson. Seven seats are reserved for non-indigenous persons and three for women (2 indigenous and 1 non-indigenous). The Regional Council is to be elected by the three Hill District Councils and from among the people in CHT for a five years term. The Chairmen of three HDCs are also ex-officio members of the CHTRC.
The CHT Regional Council is the apex body of the CHT administrative set up, which is introduced to making CHT a unique political and administrative unit. This Regional Council was bestowed upon the power of supervising and coordinating to the subjects transferred to three HDCs, law and order, general administrations, development, CHT Development Board, traditional and social justice etc and the power of giving license for heavy industries. In making any law in connection with CHT, the Government shall enact such law in consultation with the Regional Council. It has a great role on the policy making about the CHT.
In 1989, three Hill District Local Government Councils were established in CHT, for the districts of Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati respectively. The CHT Accord strengthens their authority considerably and names Hill District Council. The HDCs are composed of 34 members with quotas for the different indigenous peoples of the CHT including its Chairperson, women (3 seats) and non-indigenous (10 seats). The councils are elected directly from and by the people in CHT for a period of five years.
The HDCs are empowered with 33 subjects including overall co-ordination, maintenance and improvement of the law and order of the district; control over the police administration of the district; land and land management, agriculture, primary and secondary education, youth welfare, justice related to the tribal affairs, according to the customs, culture of the tribal people; and co-ordination of the development activities of the local authorities, environmental protection and development, local tourism etc. of the district monitoring the implementation of its development projects and audit thereof, rendering assistance, cooperation and encouragement etc with several other subjects.
Traditional Institutions:
There are the traditional institutions of indigenous Jumma people who look after the social justice and land related issues. This type of administrative structure could not found in the other areas of Bangladesh.
Traditionally, the CHT was divided into three Circles, namely Chakma Circle, Bohmang Circle and Mong Circle - each circle is headed by a Circle Chief. Again, each circle is divided into several smaller administrative units called Mouzas, which are comprised of some villages. Each Mouza is headed by an administrative head, called Headman. Under a Mouza, there are several villages and head of the village is calledKarbari. Till today, this system is recognized by the national government of Bangladesh.
The post of the Circle Chief is hereditary, as is (was) the case with Headmen. Generally, the child of past Headman is given priority for headship. Both the Circle Chiefs and the Headmen used to discharge their duties and functions according to customs and traditions (partially recognized by the CHT Regulation of 1900 enacted by the then British government). Among the important duties and responsibilities of the Headmen are collection of land tax, providing recommendation for distribution and settlement of land, maintenance of land records, preservation and maintenance of community forest resources and settlement of social disputes in accordance with the indigenous peoples' customary laws. The responsibility of land settlement and land management is primarily vested with Headmen. Thus, proper management and control of the above issues depended on the respective Headman’s capacity and efficiency.
Along with the passage of time the traditional institutions have been more and more weakened in this way. These are now in a moribund condition yet the successive Governments could not abolish these totally. However, after a long gap, 1997 the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and the Bangladesh Government signed the historic CHT Accord with provisions for amalgamation of the traditional Raja-Headman-Karbari administrative system with the democratic institutions for better and meaningful role. The CHT Accord 1997, the Hill District Council Acts of 1998 and the CHT Regional Council Act, 1998 have a good number of provisions to this end. Clause 19 of part D of the Accord gives the Circle Chiefs access to the Ministry of CHT Affairs (MoCHTA) as members of the Advisory Committee to assist the Ministry and clause 12 of part B of the Accord authorizes them to join the Hill District Councils’ (HDCs) meetings.
In this way the traditional institutions such as the offices of Raja-Headman-Karbari have been integrated into the democratic institutions like the MoCHTA, CHTRC and HDCs. This involvement has opened up a scope to get the traditional system involved in development sector.
Other local governance bodies:
There are the local government councils, such as, Union Councils, Municipalities and Upazila Councils who look after the development activities in respective area. Though these local government councils discharge their duties under the Local Government Ministry in one hand and under the supervision and coordination of CHTRC and HDCs on the other.
Administrative Unit in CHT
District |
Area in sq. km. |
Population |
Upazila |
Police station |
Union |
Mouza |
Municipality |
Rangamati |
6,116 |
401,388 |
10 |
11 |
50 |
196 |
2 |
Khagrachari |
2,700 |
342,488 |
8 |
9 |
37 |
145 |
3 |
Bandarban |
4,479 |
230,569 |
7 |
7 |
31 |
141 |
1 |
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