Ex-Forces Association calls for CHT Peace Accord review

The Ex-Forces Association on Wednesday called for countering armed groups, reviewing the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Peace Accord, and placed several other demands to address what it described as conspiracies and challenges to the country’s sovereignty in the hill region.

They made the demands at a seminar titled “Conspiracies in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Challenges to Sovereignty and Ways Forward” organised by the Ex-Forces Association at the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia Hall of the National Press Club in the capital.

The speakers claimed that 96 incidents of gunfire took place between September 2024 and October 2025, with armed groups exchanging thousands of rounds of ammunition. “We have to find out who is supplying these arms and ammunition,” they said.

Claiming that extortion worth around Tk1,200 crore takes place annually in the hill region, they said the state machinery knows about it but no effective initiative has yet been taken.

“People are publicly killed for refusing to pay extortion money, and police stations are attacked,” they said.

The other demands of the Association includes- taking legal action against those accused of anti-state activities in hill tracts, increasing army camps and BGB Border Outposts, doubling the risk allowance for troops, and establishing a modern CMH in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Addressing the seminar, Association President Lieutenant (retd) Saifullah Khan Saif said the activities of armed groups in the hills posed a challenge to cross-border security.

“The hill region remains unstable for various reasons,” he said, urging the ministry concerned to play a responsible and farsighted role in ensuring the security of all communities there.

“This cannot be viewed as the sole responsibility of the security forces,” he said, adding that political parties should have clear and long-term plans to address the issue.

“If the region remains unstable, questions will arise about the country’s sovereignty,” Saifullah Khan said. “We will resist any anti-state activities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,” he added.

State Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Nurul Haque Nur also strongly criticised the demand for the withdrawal of the army from the hill districts.

He said there were criticisms of the army and those could be resolved through discussions.

“But those who talk nonsense about removing the army from the Chittagong Hill Tracts have no understanding of the state, politics, security or, particularly, geopolitics,” he said.

Nur said Ziaur Rahman, as a military officer, had understood that the CHT was a broader issue of Bangladesh’s security, adding that he had therefore taken strategic measures based on policies concerning demographic balance and maintaining control over the region.

“It is because of Ziaur Rahman’s policies that the Chittagong Hill Tracts are still part of Bangladesh’s territory,” he said.