Mapping Local Factions in the Peace Accord Implementation Process: A Case Study of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord in Bangladesh

This article focuses on the challenges of the implementation of the Peace Accord signed in 1997 in the context of the conflict that occurred in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. Based on primary and secondary data, this article mainly focuses on the factional strife between Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS, the United People’s Party of the CHT), the receiving party of the Accord, and the post-Accord regional political party, United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF). It is argued that the continuation of this factional rivalry is contributing to the weaknesses in the implementation of the Accord thus thwarting peace efforts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). It is further claimed that the factions within the PCJSS strengthen the majoritarian dissent within the dominant Bengali ruling elites. In order to implement the Accord, calls for the primacy of unity among the indigenous groups and for the positive will of the majority Bengali elite, have been made.