Shillong, May 10: A delegation of 20 tribal chiefs including government officials of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh and a representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) led by Raja Devasish Roy, a prominent Chakma chieftain and a practising barrister at Law are on the Traditional Knowledge Learning and Sharing exchange programme with the tribal chiefs of North East India.

The programme lays emphasis on the traditional justice system of Meghalaya and Nagaland, even as exploration is formulated with Tripra tribal chiefs. The programme was organised by the Sustainable Inclusive Development in Chittagong Hill Tracts and the UNDP office at Dhaka.

The delegation met Chairman of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) L Blah and Justice S Kharsyiemlieh of KHADC Court for deliberation on various legal matters pertaining to tribal rights over land and forests, customary laws, functions of traditional institutions and a wide range of issues on the provision of laws in India and Bangladesh with reference to similarities and differences that could be improvised for the welfare of the tribal populace on both countries.

The knowledge-sharing exercise was delivered between Justice S Kharsyiemlieh and Raja Devasish Roy. Others present were Bangladesh tribal chiefs, lawyers and UNDP officials.

Justice Kharsyiemlieh spoke about the jurisdiction of District Council Courts on tribal people with an elaborate discourse on Civil Procedure Code, appeal and review and execution of judgement besides the customary laws on succession and other traditional judicial systems.

The Chakma Raja explained the judicial procedure of tribal areas in Bangladesh relating to national acts and rules of the country. It also presented the compilation of reports and articles on customary law and the tribal justice system in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The KHADC Chairman also handed over the Autonomous District Council Rules to the delegation for further references to the justice delivery system.

Later in the evening, the delegation also met John F Kharshiing, Chairman of the Federation of Khasi States, for an extended discussion on tribal rights and other political realities among various communities of North East India and tribal areas of Bangladesh. The delegation is slated to visit Nagaland and a meeting is also scheduled with Tripra indigenous people organisations.