The InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights: A Study on Bangladesh Compliance various regional and international pressures on both the government and Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS), such a peace accord was a demand of time. The peace process appeared complicated when the then opposition party – a right-wing nationalist party – vehemently opposed any concessions in favour of the indigenous people, as that would go against the unitary spirit of Bangladeshi nationalism as well as the territorial integrity of the country. The party in power at that time also consistently emphasized the nation-state character of Bangladesh ab initio. Therefore, the CHT Peace Accord mainly concentrated on bringing an end to insurgency by devolving a number of local governments, subject to newly established district and regional councils and rehabilitating the members of the Santi Bahini (SB), the military wing of the PCJSS without addressing the root causes of the conflict. Yet right-wing political parties declared this accord unconstitutional and vowed to repeal it once they assumed power, which they actually did not – again for pragmatic reasons. On the other hand, a section of the hill people also rejected the accord as a compromise and formed a political party – United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF) – to carry on the struggle for ‘full autonomy’ of the CHT.60 Under such delicate circumstances, no substantive progress has been 60 A Mohsin, Politics of Nationalism (Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 1997), 215. 61 Islam, Constitutional Law of Bangladesh, 171. See also, 174–178. 51

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