Bangladesh: Army and settlers atrocities leaving four indigenous people dead, hundreds homeless in CHT

Sanjoy Kumar Barua

Violent clashes erupted between indigenous communities, Army and Bengali settlers in Khagrachhari and Rangamati districts under Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh between 19-20 September leaving at least four chakma and Tripura people’s death, injured dozens and displaced hundreds said victims family members and locals.

“Army opened fire and killed my son Junan Chakma,22 on Thursday night while he was going to save Upali para indigenous village under Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari district from arson attack by settlers”, said mother Rupali Chakma.

“My son was a college student who was not involved in any politics. They killed our beloved son brutally and snatched from us forever”, she lamented.

The other victims are Rubel Tripura of Beltoli Para and Dhonnonjoy Chakma of Udolbagan area of Khagrachhari who were also shot dead by army said the victims family member seeking anonymity.

In Rangamati one Anik Kumar Chakma of Noadam area was also killed on Friday said locals.

At least hundred houses and shops belonging to indigenous people have been burnt to the ground by Bengali settlers at Dighinala, said Bindhubhoshon Chakma from Dighinala.

The arson attack happened yesterday, after the body of one Md. Mamun , an alleged thief was found dead and Muslim people blamed Jummas for his death, said one Motimoy Chakma from Khagrachhari.

Eyewitnesses say that army and police personnel stood by and did nothing as settlers, protesting against Mamun’s death, went on the rampage, setting fire to Jumma houses and shops in Dighinala.

The Bangladesh government has been moving Bengali settlers onto the lands of the Jumma tribal people for years. The Jummas have gone from being practically the sole inhabitants of the Hill Tracts to now being outnumbered by settlers.

Tensions between the communities remain high, and violence in one area can often trigger revenge attacks elsewhere.

Members of Bangladesh army have been involved in gross human rights violations in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), with impunity, for many years”,said an indigenous activist seeking anonymity.

“For the last two decades, media have been completely controlled by security forces in CHT”, he further alleged.

“There are vested interests in the CHT, within the army and the settler communities who do not want the peace accord to be implemented” he said.

After several times attempt Khagrachhari Brigade Commander couldn’t be reached.

The region was plagued by decades of armed insurgency which formally ended in 1997 followed by a peace accord inked between the government and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS), a political platform of the indigenous people which spearheaded the movement, along with its armed wing, the Shanti Bahini (SB).

According to the agreement, the government has to hand over control of administration and the three hill district councils to the CHT Regional Council, followed by a phased withdrawal of the army from the CHT.

However, 27 years later, the provisions of the peace pact have not been implemented.

During the height of the recent violence, Khagrachhari Additional District Magistrate Rozlin Shahid Chowdhury, said, “The ongoing crisis in CHt will not go away unless the CHT Land Commission and CHT Refugee Affairs Taskforce become functional.”

Thousands of people from the plain reportedly have been moved into the Hill Tracts over the decades in an attempt to either displace the indigenous Jumma people or change the demographic profile of the area.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts covers areas comprising the Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban districts of Bangladesh and is flanked by two international borders, on the southeast by Myanmar and on the north by India.

The region is heavily populated by Jumma and other indigenous communities including Chakma, Marma, Mro, Tanchangyas, Tripura, Khumi, Bawm, and Lusai.

Similar violence broke out in April 2008 when hundreds of settlers reportedly backed by Bangladeshi soldiers launched preemptive attacks on seven Jumma villages in the Sajek Union of Rangamati district, turning the hill town into a bloody battlefield.

On June,2017, around 1,600 people of some 250 families of indigenous communities left homes and took shelter in deep forest after the Bangalee settlers wreaked mayhem in Rangamati’s Longadu upazila. 

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