Cultural Survival and Rights: The Unfinished Journey of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord

The signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord (CHTPA) in 1997 pledged to end a decades-old violent armed struggle while giving several reparations to the indigenous people of Bangladesh's southern hill zone. The agreement has not yet produced fallouts after 25 years; has not been implemented, and indigenous peoples' grief, desolation, servitude, and mistreatment continued. Communities are losing their identities, cultures, languages, livelihoods, and assets and becoming increasingly vulnerable and disadvantaged. This paper aims to examine why peace agreements have been ineffective in protecting Indigenous peoples from violence and harassment and to explore how institutional and legal mechanisms have failed to restore their lost dignity and rights actively.