A/55/280/Add.2 They stressed the insecurity felt by Hindus, due partly to the Vested Property Act, which was used for the illegal appropriation of their land, especially by Mafialike groups enjoying political protection. They also described the vulnerability of the Hindu community, which suffered the condemnation of crowds incited by Muslim extremists during certain international events (for example, temples were destroyed, Hindus murdered and Hindu women raped following the destruction of the mosque at Ayodhya, India, in 1992). They also noted the insecurity felt by Hindu women, who were often victims of harassment and rape carried out by criminal elements of society, without the police properly exercising their functions of protection and suppression. They said that that all these various offences had driven Hindus from Bangladesh (they noted that, according to the 1991 census, the number of Hindus had declined by 0.3 per cent since 1974). They called for State assistance in the restoration of temples that, in their view, constituted part of the nation’s heritage. The temples in question were those at Chandranath, Langal bandh, Mahaprabhu, Dacca Dashkia, Para Tirtha, and Adwaita Prabhu. Lastly, they called for an end to discrimination against Hindus with respect to public-sector jobs and positions of responsibility, including army and police jobs. C. Religious situation of the ethnic communities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts 68. The Special Rapporteur would like to point out that the Constitution does not formally recognize ethnic communities as ethnic minorities or indigenous populations. However, in her 1999 speech to the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference, she referred specifically to the question of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and to the right of an indigenous people — an ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic and social minority — to preserve their own identity, culture, tradition and values. The Special Rapporteur’s consultations with the authorities and with representatives of ethnic communities focused on the status of indigenous populations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts — especially their religious status. Analysis of this highly complex question is necessary for the reasons cited above, in the extract from the Prime Minister’s speech: the issue is the preservation of the identity of the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. That identity is multifaceted — mainly ethnic in nature, but also religious. Thus, in order to analyze the situation of the ethnic communities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, we should look briefly at the origins of the conflict that has characterized this region; at the Peace Accord of 1997; and at the implementation of that Accord. 69. As far as the origin of the conflict is concerned, non-governmental sources (particularly ethnic communities) noted that under the British administration, the Chittagong Hill Tracts had enjoyed a special autonomous status under which the sale or transfer of land to non-indigenous populations was prohibited. After Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the region lost that special status, particularly as a result of a constitutional amendment introduced in 1963. The Government authorized and encouraged the settling of non-indigenous populations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, as well as the transfer of land ownership and other resources to non-indigenous populations. The Government also decided to exploit the hydroelectric potential of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, with the construction of the Kaptai Dam between 1957 and 1963. As a result of this project, a substantial portion of the region’s agricultural land (most of which belonged to the Chakma) disappeared, and around 100,000 indigenous people were displaced. Non-governmental sources said that because project rehabilitation measures were inadequate, some 40,000 indigenous people migrated to India at that time. This policy was pursued after Bangladesh gained independence, despite the demands made in 1972 by indigenous people for the restoration of the Chittagong Hill Tracts’ special status. From that point onward, land-related conflicts between the indigenous people and the newly arrived Bengalis (virtually all of whom were Muslim, unlike the indigenous population, which was largely non-Muslim) represented a source of conflict with the Government. The military solution chosen by the Government led to violence, especially after 1980, between the armed forces, associated with the new Bengali population, and the indigenous people, especially the organization Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and its armed division, Shanti Bahini. The various attempts made by the Bangladeshi Government to resolve the conflict ultimately led to the Peace Accord of 2 December 1997. 70. The Accord provides for the setting up of a Regional Council for the Chittagong Hill Tracts. This Council must be composed of “Local Government Councils of the Three Hill Districts.” Two-thirds of its 17