JBS Vol 04. Num 1. 2002 - (dis)LOCATING THE CHITTAGONG HILLTRACTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF BANGLADESH

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated nations in the world. It is also among the poorest, struggling for
decades to break out of poverty. In the articulation of development policies, the government has favored an industry-
led modernizing approach, hoping to take off to a high rate of economic growth. During the formulation of these
policies, however, scant attention is paid to sustainable development and environmental issues. The Chittagong
Hilltracts is an area of the country that exemplifies a lack of local participation in the national development agenda
formulated in collaboration with international donor agencies. This paper examines various aspects of this absence
of a broad-based development policy and notes that it has led to environmental degradation and a failure to take
account of indigenous groups in the determination of social welfare Policies implemented with a narrow notion of
development as an objective have undermined alternative development paths that could have been followed in the
Chittagong Hilltracts. The process through which this has occurred is examined over time it is suggested that a
participatory and more regionally-balanced approach to development may be more sustainable and firmly
root democracy in the long run