A/55/280/Add.2 The Special Rapporteur obtained information about the budget allocation for the welfare of religious institutions in the fiscal year 1999-2000: Muslims Tk 32,500,000; Hindus Tk 7,000,000; Buddhists Tk 1,500,000; Christians, Tk 500,000. Statistics were also provided regarding civil servants, showing the participation of religious groups in the Government (total workforce 4,286; Hindus, 410 or 9.6 per cent); Buddhists, 24 or 0.65 per cent; Christians, 5 or 0.11 per cent); and regarding government holidays to mark religious occasions (government holidays in general applicable to all: Muslim, 4; Hindu, 2; Buddhist, 1; Christian, 1; optional holidays applicable to the religious groups: concerned: Muslim, 7; Hindu, 10; Buddhist, 4; Christian, 8. 36. The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that there had been incidents in the past, such as certain tensions among ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and the isolated reactions of fanatics against the Hindu minority during the destruction of the Ayodhya Mosque in India. A Ministry for Foreign Affairs representative explained that the Government was doing its best to promote harmony in the community, and especially, like any other country, to combat any discrimination resulting from the weight of certain traditions, whose eradication would involve a lengthy process. He recalled the historical context of Bangladesh’s accession to independence, which occurred within the context of enormous sacrifices and a struggle for democracy and freedom, including religious freedom. Stressing the difficult economic and social conditions in Bangladesh, which are common to all developing countries, he explained that the Government’s efforts were aimed at demarginalizing poverty-stricken populations (especially through women’s education programmes), and that this approach would help combat all forms of discrimination. He said that despite its economic problems, Bangladeshi society was both traditional and religious, and both tolerant and liberal. He noted that there were incidents involving minorities, but that the vast majority of incidents involved Muslims. The Minister of Foreign Affairs described the present situation as one of total harmony, especially with regard to the country’s ethnic communities. He said that this was due in particular to the political solution provided by the Government to the question of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (a solution involving various measures, including promulgation of laws in favour of ethnic communities, the creation of a 8 Ministry for the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and a process aimed at restoring land to the ethnic communities). 37. The Minister of Justice stated that the conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (see also sect. IV.C) was not based on religion. The Ministry and Secretary for the Chittagong Hill Tracts explained that since the signing of the 1997 Peace Accord, relations between Muslims and tribes of different religious confessions — Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian — were harmonious. Furthermore, all confessions were able to practise their religion under a secular regime. The Deputy Commissioner for Rangamati made a similar assessment. The Minister and Secretary for the Chittagong Hill Tracts noted that the Peace Accord was clearly being respected and applied, notably through the allocation of credits for development activities and for the restoration of temples destroyed during the conflict; the return of 64,000 refugees, who were provided with State assistance; the restoration of a civil administration committed to human rights and secularism; the withdrawal of over 70 military camps; and the establishment of a Land Commission, which was due to visit Chittagong shortly, in order to begin working towards a solution to land-related issues. Asked by the Special Rapporteur about allegations of human rights violations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (see sect. IV.C), the Minister for the Chittagong Hill Tracts replied that army factions hostile to the ethnic communities had been rooted out, while the Secretary replied that he had not received any reports of forced conversions to Islam organized by Muslim extremists. The Minister of Religious Affairs said that all citizens — including Muslims — were free to change their religion, that the State was not in any way involved in the alleged cases of forced conversion, and that anyway, people did have the option of appealing to the courts. With respect to an alleged attack on a church in Rangamati, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs replied that according to the record of the Rangamati Pourashava and the testimony of Mr. Sankar Prashad Barua, a staff member of the Purashava Office, a Christian hostel at Bhandhiu Jishu Tila, in Rangamati Municipal Area, was partially damaged by a sudden outbreak of fire on 2 September 1999. A representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that the question of the Chittagong Hill Tracts was complex, but that the Government was sincere in its application of the 1997 Peace Accord, a process that required time. He considered that this was an ethnic problem, not a religious one.