ASIAN AFFAIRS POWER, LAW, AND HISTORY: EPISODES IN CONSCIOUSNESS OF LEGALITY

Abstract: Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is home to 13 different ethnic groups in Bangladesh. Here, I present a historical account of CHT, which suggests that the British, the Pakistani and the later Bangladeshi regime enacted laws to create and continue their domination in the CHT. The CHT case also shows that the state has taken a ‘softer’ policy on CHT over the last decade, and this shift from state domination to a dialogue has produced a ‘peace treaty ’ between Bangladesh government and the indigenous peoples ’ representatives in 1997. However, although the treaty guarantees a legal safeguard for indigenous people, their ‘real freedom ’ has been undermined by the state’s misinterpretation, or non-implementation of various clauses of the treaty. The state even changes these laws without proper consultation with the indigenous organizations. This particular tactic of the state creates a procedural problem for indigenous people and captivates them into administrative complexities, and often indigenous people do not have enough expertise to overcome these bureaucratic ‘red-tapes’. It is a puzzle for these people where they can neither neglect the state and choose a path of renewed resistance, nor can they get equal rights and enough cooperation from the state. In such a situation, indigenous people are even more vulnerable to an internal conflict than the period of their violent struggle against the state