New Delhi, June 15: A leading human rights organisation has warned of a repeat of the Chakma exodus from Bangladesh to Tripura and Mizoram if Dhaka continues with its ?racist? policies.

The Asian Centre for Human Rights has accused the Bangladesh government of committing acts of racism and racial discrimination against the indigenous Jumma or tribals in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). It has also urged the UN agencies not to fund such development programmes.

In its report, ?Who funds the acts of racial discrimination in the CHT?, the centre highlights several policies of Dhaka that has undermined the economic position of the tribals inhabiting the region bordering Tripura and Mizoram. ?An estimated 65,000 non-tribal families from the plains have reportedly been settled between Baghaihat and Majolong in Sajek Union under Rangamati hill district near the Indo-Bangladesh border.

?All these might result in the expulsion of tribals from the area. A kind of situation, similar to the one in Tripura some years ago, cannot be ruled out,? said the centre?s director Suhas Chakma, explaining how funds provided by bilateral agencies were being utilised for the benefit of the new settlers.

Around 65,000 Chakma families, which arrived in Tripura in 1986, were taken back by the Bangladesh government following an agreement signed in 1997. Though they were supposed to have been rehabilitated with allotments of land, the commitment was not honoured by Dhaka, the centre claimed.

The centre?s allegation that Dhaka was turning the CHT into a heavy militarised zone is of great concern for the Northeast.

In a press release, the centre said the Bangladesh army has forcibly grabbed thousands of acres of land for the expansion of military facilities such as the Ruma cantonment, a brigade headquarters at Bandarban and an artillery training centre at Sualok along the country?s border with India.

Death sentence stayed

Gauhati High Court has stayed the death sentence pronounced by a Tripura court on Samir Bhowmick, reports PTI from Agartala. This follows an appeal in the high court by the convict. A division bench comprising Justice T. Bhaipei and Justice Anima Hazarika yesterday ordered the court of the additional sessions judge of West Tripura to submit documents within 45 days.