[🇧🇩] Chittagong Hill Tracts----A Victim of Indian Intervention

[Saif]

Rhetoric cannot hide CHT accord failures

Will the government keep its promises to the indigenous communities of the CHT this time around?

www.thedailystar.net

Rhetoric cannot hide CHT accord failures
Absence of political will is the main impediment

It is truly disheartening that even after 26 years since the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord was signed between the then Awami League government and the leaders of the Parbatya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS), most of the key clauses have not been implemented. The government claims that they have fully implemented 65 of the 72 sections, while PCJSS says they have implemented only 25 sections, with 18 others being only partially implemented. So, what about the remaining 29 sections that have yet to see the light of day?

Over the last 26 years, the CHT has faced indiscriminate land grabbing, agricultural monoculture, devastating hill cutting, and stone extraction by private corporations as well as state bodies. The indigenous people face regular eviction with depleting land to grow food and live on. In addition, they face violence (including sexual violence against women and girls), with little or no legal recourse and the perpetrators enjoying impunity that is hardly challenged. Access to health and education is also very poor among these communities.

Recently, CHT civil society leaders and legal experts have been gravely concerned by legal proceedings to question the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation 1900, which provides for traditional indigenous institutions and upholds customary laws, conventions and practices relating to lands, territories, resources and the family laws of the indigenous communities. To invalidate the 1900 Regulation would be inconsistent with the spirit of the Accord.

Despite the partial implementation of certain clauses, such as the establishment of the CHT Affairs Ministry and regional councils, the fact is these bodies remain largely non-functional. The CHT Land Commission also remains non-operational as there are no regulations in line with the relevant act, with a draft of the rules formulated for the act still sitting with the concerned ministry. Other crucial steps that have yet to be taken for the Accord to be implemented include an exclusive voter list for permanent indigenous residents and enlisting members of the communities in the police force.

Despite multiple declarations in its manifestos, in the 15 years of the AL's rule, the Accord has remained largely unfulfilled. Will the government, which predictably will retain power after the upcoming elections, keep its promises to the indigenous communities of the CHT this time around?​

 

[Saif]

পার্বত্য জেলায় শান্তি স্থাপনে জাতীয় কনভেনশনের আহ্বান বিএনপির

পার্বত্য জেলাগুলোতে শান্তি স্থাপনের জন্য দেশের গুরুত্বপূর্ণ রাজনৈতিক দল, পার্বত্য জেলার সংশ্লিষ্ট নেতা ও অংশীজনদের নিয়ে একটি জাতীয় কনভেনশন ডাকতে অন্তর্বর্তী সরকারের প্রতি আহ্বান জানিয়েছে বিএনপি। সোমবার (২৩ সেপ্টেম্বর) রাতে বিএনপি’র গুলশান কার্যালয়ে জাতীয় স্থায়ী কমিটির সভায় উপস্থিত নেতা

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

পার্বত্য জেলায় শান্তি স্থাপনে জাতীয় কনভেনশনের আহ্বান বিএনপির
এফই অনলাইন ডেস্ক
Published :
Sep 26, 2024 23:06
Updated :
Sep 26, 2024 23:06

পার্বত্য জেলাগুলোতে শান্তি স্থাপনের জন্য দেশের গুরুত্বপূর্ণ রাজনৈতিক দল, পার্বত্য জেলার সংশ্লিষ্ট নেতা ও অংশীজনদের নিয়ে একটি জাতীয় কনভেনশন ডাকতে অন্তর্বর্তী সরকারের প্রতি আহ্বান জানিয়েছে বিএনপি।

সোমবার (২৩ সেপ্টেম্বর) রাতে বিএনপি’র গুলশান কার্যালয়ে জাতীয় স্থায়ী কমিটির সভায় উপস্থিত নেতাদের বক্তব্যে এ কথা জানানো হয়।

বৃহস্পতিবার (২৬ সেপ্টেম্বর) সন্ধ্যায় গণমাধ্যমে পাঠানো এক প্রেস বিজ্ঞপ্তিতে এ তথ্য জানানো হয়।

পার্বত্য জেলাগুলোতে উদ্ভূত সংঘাতের ঘটনাগুলোতে সভায় গভীর উদ্বেগ প্রকাশ করা হয়। সভা মনে করে, ফ্যাসিস্ট হাসিনা সরকারের পতনের পর অন্তর্বর্তী সরকারকে অস্থিতিশীল করার সুদূর প্রসারী চক্রান্তের অংশ হিসাবে এই ধরনের সংঘাতের সৃষ্টি করা হচ্ছে। যা সম্পূর্ণ রূপে রাজনৈতিক উদ্দেশ্যপ্রণোদিত। এই ঘটনা দেশের স্বাধীনতা, সার্বভৌমত্বের প্রতি হুমকি। এই ঘটনাগুলো হালকা করে দেখার সুযোগ নেই।

পতিত ফ্যাসিবাদী শক্তি ক্ষমতায় ফিরে আসার জন্য পরিকল্পিতভাবে দেশের বিভিন্ন জায়গায় মাজারে হামলা, ভাঙচুর ও ‘মব লিঞ্চিং’-এর মতো ঘটনা ঘটিয়ে শিল্পাঞ্চল, ধর্মীয় প্রতিষ্ঠানে ভীতিকর পরিস্থিতি সৃষ্টি করছে বলে সভায় মত উঠে আসে।

বিএনপি মহাসচিব মির্জা ফখরুল ইসলাম আলমগীর স্বাক্ষরিত প্রেস বিজ্ঞপ্তিতে জানানো হয়, সভায় সম্প্রতি ‘বাংলাদেশি অনুপ্রবেশকারীদের উল্টো করে ঝুলিয়ে সোজা করা হবে’ বলে ভারতের কেন্দ্রীয় স্বরাষ্ট্রমন্ত্রী অমিত শাহ যে হুমকি দিয়েছেন তার তীব্র নিন্দা জানানো হয়। দুই দেশের জনগণের মধ্যে সুসম্পর্ক বজায় রাখার জন্য এই ধরনের মন্তব্য থেকে বিরত থাকার আহ্বান জানানো হয়। ইতোমধ্যে বাংলাদেশের পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয় থেকে এ মন্তব্যে কঠোর সমালোচনা এবং বিরত থাকার আহ্বান জানানোয় সন্তোষ প্রকাশ করা হয়।

তারেক রহমানের সভাপতিত্বে অনুষ্ঠিত সভায় আরও অংশ নেন- ড. খন্দকার মোশাররফ হোসেন, জমির উদ্দিন সরকার, মির্জা আব্বাস, গয়েশ্বর চন্দ্র রায়, ড. আব্দুল মঈন খান, নজরুল ইসলাম খান, মির্জা ফখরুল ইসলাম আলমগীর, আমির খসরু মাহমুদ চৌধুরী, সালাহ উদ্দিন আহমেদ, বেগম সেলিমা রহমান, ইকবাল হাসান মাহমুদ টুকু, মেজর (অব.) হাফিজ উদ্দিন আহমেদ ও অধ্যাপক ডা. এজেডএম জাহিদ হোসেন।​

 

[Bilal9]

Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh integral part of India: Chakma bodies of Tripura

Chakma National Council of India and Tripura Chakma Students Association, who have observed August 17 as ‘Black Day’ since 2016, held protests across 11 locations of Tripura.

indianexpress.com

Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh integral part of India: Chakma bodies of Tripura​

Chakma National Council of India and Tripura Chakma Students Association, who have observed August 17 as ‘Black Day’ since 2016, held protests across 11 locations of Tripura.​

Written by Debraj Deb
Agartala | Updated: August 17, 2019 22:08 IST


​

​

Chakma National Council of India and Tripura Chakma Students Association have been observing ‘Black Day’ on August 17 for three years now.

After seven decades of independence, people of Chakma ethnic community living in Tripura have claimed Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to be ‘integral part’ of India and demanded justice from the International Court of Justice citing grounds of ethnic persecution.

Chakma National Council of India and Tripura Chakma Students Association, who have observed August 17 as ‘Black Day’ since 2016, held protests across 11 locations of Tripura including Agartala, Kanchanpur, Pecharthal, Kumarghat, Manu, Chailengta, Chowmanu, Gandacherra, Natunbazaar, Silachari and Birchandramanu this year.
​

Wah! These people now asking India to send troops to Bangladesh sovereign territory to "free it" for them.

They snuck in from Myanmar a few generations ago, now they want "Joomland".

If wishes could be horses....I want what these people are imbibing in the hookah, must be good.

 

[Bilal9]

Crisis deepens as meaningful negotiation eludes CHT

Tension deepened in the Chittagong Hill Tracts with authorities failing as of Sunday to initiate a meaningful negotiation between the national minorities and Bengalis and take proper legal step to...

www.newagebd.net

Crisis deepens as meaningful negotiation eludes CHT
Staff Correspondent 23 September, 2024, 00:34

View attachment 8785
Army personnel stand guard in Khagrachari district headquarters on Sunday amid road and waterways blockade enforced by national minority groups protesting at the deaths of their fellows in the recent violence. | New Age photo

Tension deepened in the Chittagong Hill Tracts with authorities failing as of Sunday to initiate a meaningful negotiation between the national minorities and Bengalis and take proper legal step to bring the perpetrators of the sectarian violence to book.

The murder case, filed over the death of Mohammad Mamun, 35, on September 19, included three Bengalis as key accused, while mentioned previous enmity as the possible motive, indicating the involvement of a force that turned a rather regular crime into the subject of a violence that rocked the three hill districts.

The police failed to arrest any of the three key accused as of Sunday after failing to contain the violence in the first place though there were witnesses to Mamun’s murder, at least one of them being treated at hospital, according to the murder case.

‘Evidence is there on how the murder was committed and who might be behind it,’ said Kohinoor, Mamun’s sister-in-law, who talked on behalf of Mukta Akter, wife of Mamun who filed the case, as she was too sick to speak.

New Age correspondent in Khagrachari reported that the three key accused in Mamun’s murder are Jubo Dal leader Shakil Ahammad, 37, and two Awami League leaders Rafiqul Alam, 56, and Didarul Alam, 50. Rafiq is a former mayor of Khagrachhari municipality.

The case statement said that Shakil kidnapped Mamun acting on the order of Rafiq and Didar.

Mamun, who the police said stood accused in several criminal cases, was found dead on September 18. The next day several thousand Bengalis brought out a procession in Dighinala protesting at the murder, passing the blame on the national minorities and eventually launching an arson attack gutting nearly 100 shops and houses, mostly belonging to the minorities, and at least one Buddhist temple.

The arson attack forced hundreds of Buddhist families comprising over half of Dighinala’s population to flee for their lives to the forest. Most of them remained hiding in the forest as of Sunday evening at the time of filing of this report.

The Khagrachhari unrest saw three national minority people get killed on September 19 as it spread to Rangamati the next day where one more national minority man was killed and around 50 houses belonging to these communities were vandalised and set on fire.

The violence prompted authorities to impose Section 144 on Friday afternoon on Khagrachhari Sadar and Dighinala upazilas along with Rangamati municipality. The administration in Khagrachari withdrew Section 144 hours later the same day, while in Rangamati it was withdrawn at 11:00am on Sunday.

No cases were filed over the casualties in Khagrachhari until Sunday evening. At least two of the deaths, witnesses and independent human rights observers said, occurred after the military had opened fire on a gathering of the ethnic communities in Khagrachhari sadar.

‘My boy had gone to save a relative’s shop being informed that Bengalis were about to attack Swanirbhar Bazar,’ said Rupsa Chakma, mother of Junan Chakma, who had just turned 21, one of the three dead.

Junan’s family was given Tk 25,000 by the deputy commissioner’s office that promised a fair probe.

Rupsa said that they were yet to decide regarding filing a case over her son’s killing.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, an independent watchdog, in a statement issued on September 21 said that the military opening fire on a gathering of ethnic minority people resulted in casualties.

Khagrachhari additional superintendent of police Tafiqul Alam said that they contacted families of the deceased who were yet to decide over filing of cases.

‘The police will file case over the incidents if the families don’t,’ said Tafiq without mentioning how long the police would wait for the families to complain.

No case was filed over the Dighinala arson as well.

The family of the fourth deceased, also a national minority youth, Anik Chakma, who died in Rangamati on September 20, said that they knew nothing about the murder case filed on September 21 over the death with the Kotwali police.

When contacted, Anik’s father, Adar Sen Chakma, said that he was not aware about a case filed over his son’s death.

‘We had high hopes for Anik. We sent him to Karnaphuli Degree College ignoring all our hardship,’ said Adar.

A case over the arson in Rangamati was filed on September 22 in which the police allegedly made every effort to keep the content of the case a secret.

‘A delicate crisis involving matters of mutual respect and trust cannot be solved like this,’ said Rahel Chakma, a resident of Dighinala.

Residents of Dighinala who left their houses out of fear had not returned as of Sunday evening.

Their hope of returning home faded after the meeting organised between ethnic minorities and Bengalis on Saturday afternoon over the arson attack in Dighinala ended amidst chaos with Bengalis reluctant to let ethnic leaders speak.

‘We were counting on the meeting to find a resolution to the problem through dialogue,’ said Chayan Bikash Chakma, chairman, Boalkhali union parishad, Dighinala.

‘They won’t even listen to us and we had to leave immediately after the meeting started,’ he said.

Several advisers visited the affected districts on Saturday to mollify the situation. At least one of the advisers was present in the Dighinala meeting that yielded no result, according to the ethnic leaders.

National minority people complained on Sunday facing obstacles from Bengalis during their movement.

The three hill districts, including Bandarban, remained detached from the rest of the country as the 72-hour road and waterways blockade that began on Saturday morning continued amidst an indefinite strike being enforced by the Rangamati’s bus and launch association.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Agreement Implementation Movement held a protest rally in front of the National Museum in the capital at around 3:30pm on Sunday, demanding fair investigation into the violence in the CHT by a committee comprising human rights activists and civil society representatives.

Their other demands included ensuring the security of the national minorities in the CHT, compensating the families of the deceased and those who lost their property, treatment of the injured, and full implementation of the 1997 CHT peace accord.

The students of Jagannath University also demonstrated in Dhaka protesting at the unrest in the CHT. The United People’s Democratic Front, regional political party based in the CHT, demanded a probe under the supervision of the United Nations.​

I see no recourse except ramping up the re-population of the Hill Tracts with Bengali settlers from the plains. And simultaneously increasing military logistics activity, recce and communications.

There is no 'indigenous' population in the Hill Tracts, as some of these Chakma and Marma people claim.

No country in the world will tolerate these kinds of 'illogical requests' by racist entities like these tribals, as few as they are in number. They are dragging in India to intervene in a sovereign country.

If you cannot live as free citizens of a free country in inclusive DEI fashion (and ask repeatedly for special status in a protected area), then there's the door. Don't let it hit you on the way out.

 

[Bilal9]

Students call for restoration of peace in Chittagong Hill Tracts

A group of students has called for the restoration of peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Under the banner of 'Students Living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,' they held a protest rally at the base of Dhaka University's anti-terrorism Raju sculpture on Monday. During the public meeting, the studen

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Students call for restoration of peace in Chittagong Hill Tracts
DU CORRESPONDENT
Published :
Sep 23, 2024 21:11
Updated :
Sep 23, 2024 21:11

View attachment 8791

A group of students has called for the restoration of peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Under the banner of 'Students Living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,' they held a protest rally at the base of Dhaka University's anti-terrorism Raju sculpture on Monday.

During the public meeting, the students expressed concern over the oppression faced by native Bengalis in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. They alleged that a faction seeks to take control of the region by removing military presence, aiming to separate Chatoogram from Bangladesh and create an independent Jummland. They warned that if not addressed, this could lead to the need for visas to access areas like Sajek, Rangamati, and Bandarban.

Rakibul Islam, a Dhaka University student, stated that there are plans to designate Chattogram as the "eighth sister" alongside the Seven Sisters of the Northeast. He asserted that efforts are being made to portray native Bengalis as settlers and pledged to combat any conspiracies aimed at separating the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The students called for the intervention of the army to restore peace in the area.

The protesters displayed placards with slogans such as 'No one is tribal, we are all Bangladeshis,' 'Abolish tribal quota,' and 'Tribal campaigns should be declared treason,' among others.

Later in the evening, they held a torch procession starting from the Raju Sculpture.​

Glad to see public opinion mobilizing, we are done with catering to these illegal interlopers like Hasina did, at the request of India.

We cater to Indian economy, and they do this to us with these tribals, enough is enough.

 

[Saif]

Wah! These people now asking India to send troops to Bangladesh sovereign territory to "free it" for them.

They snuck in from Myanmar a few generations ago, now they want "Joomland".

If wishes could be horses....I want what these people are imbibing in the hookah, must be good.

I think Bangladesh, China and Pakistan should join hands to separate seven sisters and Kashmir from India. If we fail to break India, they will surely make an attempt to take over Bangladesh and Pakistan to form their dream country--Akhand Bharat.

 

[Saif]

I see no recourse except ramping up the re-population of the Hill Tracts with Bengali settlers from the plains. And simultaneously increasing military logistics activity, recce and communications.

Bilal bhai, Bengalis in CHT are not settlers. The are the indigenous people of CHT. Tribal people in CHT are settlers because they have migrated from India and Myanmar.

 

[Saif]

আদিবাসী কনসেপ্টে বিশ্বাস করিনা !! পাহাড়িদের কড়া বার্তা ব্যারিস্টার ফুয়াদের

 

[Saif]

২৫০ বছর আগে অন্য দেশ থেকে আসলে, অরিজিনাল আদিবাসী হয় না

 

[Saif]

পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রামে উড়ে এসে জুড়ে বসেছে পাহাড়িরা!

 

[Saif]

Tribals in Chittagong Hill Tracts are not indigenous people. They have migrated from India's North East and Myanmar.

পাহাড়ী সন্ত্রাসীদের নিষিদ্ধ করতে পার্বত্য নাগরিক পরিষদের আহ্বান

 

[Saif]

জুমল্যান্ড ও পাহাড়ের বিচ্ছিন্নতাবাদ! অতীত থেকে বর্তমান

 

[Saif]

'উপজাতি সন্ত্রাসীরা পার্বত্য চট্রগ্রামকে আলাদা রাষ্ট্র করার ষড়যন্ত্র করছে'

 

[Mohmmad Rayan]

I think Bangladesh, China and Pakistan should join hands to separate seven sisters and Kashmir from India. If we fail to break India, they will surely make an attempt to take over Bangladesh and Pakistan to form their dream country--Akhand Bharat.

kashmir was , is and will always remain integral part of undivided Pakistan

 

[Saif]

Security dynamics in CHT

ETHNIC conflicts have become a global problem with serious regional implications. Scholarly concern with ethnic groups and conflict has become increasingly salient since the second half of the twentieth century. An estimate shows that one-third of all countries experienced civil conflict and...

www.newagebd.net

Security dynamics in CHT
Saleh Shahriar 29 September, 2024, 00:00

|United News of Bangladesh/Abu Sufian Jewel

ETHNIC conflicts have become a global problem with serious regional implications. Scholarly concern with ethnic groups and conflict has become increasingly salient since the second half of the twentieth century. An estimate shows that one-third of all countries experienced civil conflict and ethnic unrest. The term ‘ethnicity’ or ‘ethnic’ finds origin in the Greek term ethnos, meaning nation, and its modern-day meaning translates to a group of people who share a common culture and sense of heritage.

There has been a proliferation of ethnic nationalism in many parts of the world. Language, culture, memory, history and tradition are the vital sources of ethnic nationalism. These variables can drive the members of an ethnic community to shape their own collective identity and destiny. Managing the violence of ethnic groups remains a central problem of state-building, security and development.

Bangladesh, to the east of India on the Bay of Bengal, is a densely populated South Asian country. It has more than 4,000 kilometres of border with India and 271 kilometres of border with Myanmar. It is a gateway to the eleven Southeast Asian countries, such as Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Chittagong Hill Tracts, bordered by India and Myanmar, is situated in the south-eastern corner of Bangladesh. The hill tracts, composed of southeastern hilly districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari, is plagued by ethnic conflicts and violent secessionist movements. The hill tracts have had a long history of conflict and bloodshed. Numerous ethnonationalist groups are active in the three hill districts.

Of late, a new separatist group, namely, the Kuki-Chin National Front, surfaced in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the hill districts of India, Myanmar and the disputed territories between China and the neighbours. The Kuki-Chin National Front has its own armed wing, namely, the Kuki-Chin National Army . Members of newly emerged militant group Kuki-Chin National Front looted over Tk 15 million from Sonali Bank’s branch in Ruma, Bandarban on the first week of July 2024. They looted 14 weapons from the Ansar members guarding the bank and allegedly abducted the Sonali Bank manager.

The latest violent confrontation in Rangamati town and at Dighinala and sadar in Khagrachari resulted in the deaths of four people and left at least 72 others injured. Leaders of the Chakma community urged the Indian prime minister to take steps to protect the lives and properties of the hill tribes and religious minorities. These tribal leaders might have placed their demands to the interim Yunus government through proper means instead of showing their allegiance to the Modi regime in India. It is also true that beyond the accord-transferred responsibilities to the ethnic minority-controlled three district councils and the larger regional council, the hill leaders demanded the closing of most military outposts, stringent restrictions on the Bengali settlers and more resource allocations for the hills, to mention a few of those demands.

With the rise of China, Professor Walt, a realist scholar, in his 2018 paper entitled ‘Rising Powers and the Risks of War: A Realist View on Sino-American Relations’ predicts that the United States and China will increasingly see each other as rivals and will engage in more intense security competition. The purpose of this paper is to address a couple of questions: What are the underlying security dynamics in the hill tracts? How does the super and great power competition shape the geopolitics of the hill tracts?

The Rohingya crisis has been disrupting bilateral relations between Myanmar and Bangladesh since the late 1970s. As a host nation, Bangladesh faces several non-traditional security threats originating from the Rohingya crisis. Drug trafficking is a major threat to regional security and domestic stability. Drug addiction has become a matter of serious global concern. Bangladesh is near the three major drug-producing regions: the Golden Triangle, the Golden Crescent and the Golden Wedge. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the smuggling of drugs and arms has increased instability in the region.

On May 3, 2023, violence broke out between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribe in Churachandpur town of Manipur, which is close to Imphal, the state’s capital. The reason for the clashes has been attributed to the non-tribal Meitei people’s demand for scheduled tribe status. While the Meiteis view the Kukis as outsiders and drug peddlers, the Kukis see themselves as marginalised by the Meiteis, who hold major political and administrative positions in the state. The violence in Manipur escalated from burning the Anglo-Kuki War Memorial to destroying homes and killings, displacing about 5,000 people within 48 hours.

Within two months, the number of displaced individuals soared to 60,000, the death toll reached 70, and over 1,700 buildings, including homes and religious structures, were reduced to ashes. Geopolitically, Manipur has strategic importance as it shares a border with Myanmar and serves as a gateway to Southeast Asia for India. Also, Manipur is crucial for India’s act-east policy, which aims to develop cultural links, trade, tourism and connectivity with Southeast Asia. The trilateral highway project linking India, Myanmar, and Thailand starts from Moreh in Manipur and ends at Mae Sot in Thailand.

The fall of Sheikh Hasina through an unprecedented mass uprising on August 5, 2024, created some sorts of political vacuum in the social and institutional settings in Bangladesh. Indeed, the ouster of Hasina is a significant setback for India’s security and regional policy. A reasonably understandable anti-Indian sentiment and feeling reached its climax for the incessant Indian support provided to the sustenance and survival of the autocratic Hasina regime.

Consequently, the diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and India reached their lowest ebbs after the interim government resumed state power. ‘If you destabilise Bangladesh, it will spill over all around Bangladesh, including Myanmar and seven sisters in West Bengal everywhere,’ Dr Yunus told NDTV. He further warns, ‘It will be a volcanic eruption everywhere around us and in Myanmar... and it would be a bigger problem because a million Rohingyas are in here’.

The security situation in the hill tracts has become complicated since the 1997 peace accord. There are two opposing views about the deterioration of law and order there. A group of scholars such as professor Amena Mohsin singled out processes of militarisation, Bengalization and religious conversion at the hill tracts as aggravating factors for the deterioration. These experts talked in favour of empowering the indigenous population and subsequent withdrawal of the CHT military camps. On the other hand, the scholars belonging to the opposite camp, professor M Rashiduzzaman, for instance, argued for the importance of maintaining territorial integrity, geopolitical interests and strategic communication along the cross-border region.

In recent years, the traditional Sino-Indian rivalry has been accelerated by at least two key developments. Firstly, China’s announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 through which China began to encroach in India’s traditional sphere of influence (South Asia); and secondly, the flare-up in mid-2020 along the Sino-Indian border regions, known as the LAC or the Line of Actual Control, which possibly has brought a fundamental shift in the Indian perception and strategy vis-à-vis China. Moreover, China has a historic claim over the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. China has released a fourth list of 30 new names of various places in Arunachal Pradesh amid Beijing’s stepped-up assertions in recent weeks to re-emphasise its claim over the Indian state.

India has been rejecting China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country and assigning ‘invented’ names does not alter this reality. India, after the 1962 War with China, adopted the ‘scorched earth’ policy of keeping the border areas with China underdeveloped. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government in 1999 first changed the policy of keeping the border areas of India along China underdeveloped. His cabinet approved thirteen new border projects to develop the Sino-Indian border areas. In 2006, the UPA government launched the Indo-China Border Roads Program to construct good quality roads in the forward areas of the Sino-Indian border for easy conduct of Indian troop movement. It proposed to construct the 1,850-kilometre-long Trans Arunachal National Highway along the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River.

The main aim for constructing this highway was to move troops quickly in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh from Assam. The current Modi government has increased the Border Roads Organisation budget to Rs 14,387 crores in 2023-2024 in comparison to the previous budget of Rs 3,782 crore for the year 2013-2014. In the years between 2014 and 2022, 6,806 kilometres of road construction have been completed in the Sino-India border areas in comparison to only 3,610 kilometres of road constructed between 2008 and 2014. This boost in the infrastructural development in the border areas with China has changed the geopolitics of the border areas with China. India’s efforts to enhance connectivity with Southeast Asia under the Look/Act East Policy rest on five initiatives: the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Corridor, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, the Trilateral Highway and its extension, the Ganga-Mekong Economic Corridor, and the Mekong-India Economic Corridor.

In December 2021, US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken laid out the US government’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, America’s vision for a free, open, connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure Indo-Pacific region in which all countries are empowered to adapt to the 21st century’s challenges and seize its many opportunities. The Biden administration also established the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to enhance economic cooperation among the Indo-Pacific states. As one of the small states of the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has emerged as a vital factor in the geopolitics of the region.

China considers the IPS ill-motivated to weaken China’s rise and sees the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as a threat to its regional dominance. Chinese leaders are convinced that the United States won’t willingly allow China to become the dominant power in Asia, much less deign to share global leadership with Beijing. Beijing has embarked on projects such as Xi’s overlapping Global Security Initiative, Global Development Initiative, and Global Civilisation Initiative, all of which challenge the West’s right to unilaterally define universal rules and seek to undermine the notion of universal values in areas such as human rights.

Given the current geopolitical atmosphere and realities, we may conclude that the CHT problems have many domestic and global dimensions. The end of the cold war has unleashed new forces in international politics. The 1997 peace accord has established a kind of Chakma hegemony in the hill tracts. As a result, smaller ethnic groups like the Kuki-Chin National Front challenged the peace treaty demanding the creation of an exclusive ethnic homeland, namely Kukiland. It is high time for Bangladesh to adopt a comprehensive and informed peace strategy to tackle the ethnic conflict and security problems in a systematic and enlightened manner.

Dr Saleh Shahriar is an assistant professor of history and philosophy, North South University, Dhaka. This article is a part of a research project on the Changing Security Dynamics of the Chattogram Hill Tract.​

 

[Saif]

‘পার্বত্য অঞ্চলকে আলাদা করতে চাইলে যুদ্ধের জন্য আমরা প্রস্তত আছি’ (We are ready to wage war on India if it tries to separate CHT from Bangladesh---Major (rtd) Hafiz)

 

[Bilal9]

Security dynamics in CHT

ETHNIC conflicts have become a global problem with serious regional implications. Scholarly concern with ethnic groups and conflict has become increasingly salient since the second half of the twentieth century. An estimate shows that one-third of all countries experienced civil conflict and...

www.newagebd.net

Security dynamics in CHT
Saleh Shahriar 29 September, 2024, 00:00

View attachment 9056
|United News of Bangladesh/Abu Sufian Jewel

ETHNIC conflicts have become a global problem with serious regional implications. Scholarly concern with ethnic groups and conflict has become increasingly salient since the second half of the twentieth century. An estimate shows that one-third of all countries experienced civil conflict and ethnic unrest. The term ‘ethnicity’ or ‘ethnic’ finds origin in the Greek term ethnos, meaning nation, and its modern-day meaning translates to a group of people who share a common culture and sense of heritage.

There has been a proliferation of ethnic nationalism in many parts of the world. Language, culture, memory, history and tradition are the vital sources of ethnic nationalism. These variables can drive the members of an ethnic community to shape their own collective identity and destiny. Managing the violence of ethnic groups remains a central problem of state-building, security and development.

Bangladesh, to the east of India on the Bay of Bengal, is a densely populated South Asian country. It has more than 4,000 kilometres of border with India and 271 kilometres of border with Myanmar. It is a gateway to the eleven Southeast Asian countries, such as Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Chittagong Hill Tracts, bordered by India and Myanmar, is situated in the south-eastern corner of Bangladesh. The hill tracts, composed of southeastern hilly districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari, is plagued by ethnic conflicts and violent secessionist movements. The hill tracts have had a long history of conflict and bloodshed. Numerous ethnonationalist groups are active in the three hill districts.

Of late, a new separatist group, namely, the Kuki-Chin National Front, surfaced in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the hill districts of India, Myanmar and the disputed territories between China and the neighbours. The Kuki-Chin National Front has its own armed wing, namely, the Kuki-Chin National Army . Members of newly emerged militant group Kuki-Chin National Front looted over Tk 15 million from Sonali Bank’s branch in Ruma, Bandarban on the first week of July 2024. They looted 14 weapons from the Ansar members guarding the bank and allegedly abducted the Sonali Bank manager.

The latest violent confrontation in Rangamati town and at Dighinala and sadar in Khagrachari resulted in the deaths of four people and left at least 72 others injured. Leaders of the Chakma community urged the Indian prime minister to take steps to protect the lives and properties of the hill tribes and religious minorities. These tribal leaders might have placed their demands to the interim Yunus government through proper means instead of showing their allegiance to the Modi regime in India. It is also true that beyond the accord-transferred responsibilities to the ethnic minority-controlled three district councils and the larger regional council, the hill leaders demanded the closing of most military outposts, stringent restrictions on the Bengali settlers and more resource allocations for the hills, to mention a few of those demands.

With the rise of China, Professor Walt, a realist scholar, in his 2018 paper entitled ‘Rising Powers and the Risks of War: A Realist View on Sino-American Relations’ predicts that the United States and China will increasingly see each other as rivals and will engage in more intense security competition. The purpose of this paper is to address a couple of questions: What are the underlying security dynamics in the hill tracts? How does the super and great power competition shape the geopolitics of the hill tracts?

The Rohingya crisis has been disrupting bilateral relations between Myanmar and Bangladesh since the late 1970s. As a host nation, Bangladesh faces several non-traditional security threats originating from the Rohingya crisis. Drug trafficking is a major threat to regional security and domestic stability. Drug addiction has become a matter of serious global concern. Bangladesh is near the three major drug-producing regions: the Golden Triangle, the Golden Crescent and the Golden Wedge. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the smuggling of drugs and arms has increased instability in the region.

On May 3, 2023, violence broke out between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribe in Churachandpur town of Manipur, which is close to Imphal, the state’s capital. The reason for the clashes has been attributed to the non-tribal Meitei people’s demand for scheduled tribe status. While the Meiteis view the Kukis as outsiders and drug peddlers, the Kukis see themselves as marginalised by the Meiteis, who hold major political and administrative positions in the state. The violence in Manipur escalated from burning the Anglo-Kuki War Memorial to destroying homes and killings, displacing about 5,000 people within 48 hours.

Within two months, the number of displaced individuals soared to 60,000, the death toll reached 70, and over 1,700 buildings, including homes and religious structures, were reduced to ashes. Geopolitically, Manipur has strategic importance as it shares a border with Myanmar and serves as a gateway to Southeast Asia for India. Also, Manipur is crucial for India’s act-east policy, which aims to develop cultural links, trade, tourism and connectivity with Southeast Asia. The trilateral highway project linking India, Myanmar, and Thailand starts from Moreh in Manipur and ends at Mae Sot in Thailand.

The fall of Sheikh Hasina through an unprecedented mass uprising on August 5, 2024, created some sorts of political vacuum in the social and institutional settings in Bangladesh. Indeed, the ouster of Hasina is a significant setback for India’s security and regional policy. A reasonably understandable anti-Indian sentiment and feeling reached its climax for the incessant Indian support provided to the sustenance and survival of the autocratic Hasina regime.

Consequently, the diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and India reached their lowest ebbs after the interim government resumed state power. ‘If you destabilise Bangladesh, it will spill over all around Bangladesh, including Myanmar and seven sisters in West Bengal everywhere,’ Dr Yunus told NDTV. He further warns, ‘It will be a volcanic eruption everywhere around us and in Myanmar... and it would be a bigger problem because a million Rohingyas are in here’.

The security situation in the hill tracts has become complicated since the 1997 peace accord. There are two opposing views about the deterioration of law and order there. A group of scholars such as professor Amena Mohsin singled out processes of militarisation, Bengalization and religious conversion at the hill tracts as aggravating factors for the deterioration. These experts talked in favour of empowering the indigenous population and subsequent withdrawal of the CHT military camps. On the other hand, the scholars belonging to the opposite camp, professor M Rashiduzzaman, for instance, argued for the importance of maintaining territorial integrity, geopolitical interests and strategic communication along the cross-border region.

In recent years, the traditional Sino-Indian rivalry has been accelerated by at least two key developments. Firstly, China’s announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 through which China began to encroach in India’s traditional sphere of influence (South Asia); and secondly, the flare-up in mid-2020 along the Sino-Indian border regions, known as the LAC or the Line of Actual Control, which possibly has brought a fundamental shift in the Indian perception and strategy vis-à-vis China. Moreover, China has a historic claim over the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. China has released a fourth list of 30 new names of various places in Arunachal Pradesh amid Beijing’s stepped-up assertions in recent weeks to re-emphasise its claim over the Indian state.

India has been rejecting China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country and assigning ‘invented’ names does not alter this reality. India, after the 1962 War with China, adopted the ‘scorched earth’ policy of keeping the border areas with China underdeveloped. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government in 1999 first changed the policy of keeping the border areas of India along China underdeveloped. His cabinet approved thirteen new border projects to develop the Sino-Indian border areas. In 2006, the UPA government launched the Indo-China Border Roads Program to construct good quality roads in the forward areas of the Sino-Indian border for easy conduct of Indian troop movement. It proposed to construct the 1,850-kilometre-long Trans Arunachal National Highway along the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River.

The main aim for constructing this highway was to move troops quickly in the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh from Assam. The current Modi government has increased the Border Roads Organisation budget to Rs 14,387 crores in 2023-2024 in comparison to the previous budget of Rs 3,782 crore for the year 2013-2014. In the years between 2014 and 2022, 6,806 kilometres of road construction have been completed in the Sino-India border areas in comparison to only 3,610 kilometres of road constructed between 2008 and 2014. This boost in the infrastructural development in the border areas with China has changed the geopolitics of the border areas with China. India’s efforts to enhance connectivity with Southeast Asia under the Look/Act East Policy rest on five initiatives: the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Corridor, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, the Trilateral Highway and its extension, the Ganga-Mekong Economic Corridor, and the Mekong-India Economic Corridor.

In December 2021, US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken laid out the US government’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, America’s vision for a free, open, connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure Indo-Pacific region in which all countries are empowered to adapt to the 21st century’s challenges and seize its many opportunities. The Biden administration also established the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to enhance economic cooperation among the Indo-Pacific states. As one of the small states of the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has emerged as a vital factor in the geopolitics of the region.

China considers the IPS ill-motivated to weaken China’s rise and sees the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as a threat to its regional dominance. Chinese leaders are convinced that the United States won’t willingly allow China to become the dominant power in Asia, much less deign to share global leadership with Beijing. Beijing has embarked on projects such as Xi’s overlapping Global Security Initiative, Global Development Initiative, and Global Civilisation Initiative, all of which challenge the West’s right to unilaterally define universal rules and seek to undermine the notion of universal values in areas such as human rights.

Given the current geopolitical atmosphere and realities, we may conclude that the CHT problems have many domestic and global dimensions. The end of the cold war has unleashed new forces in international politics. The 1997 peace accord has established a kind of Chakma hegemony in the hill tracts. As a result, smaller ethnic groups like the Kuki-Chin National Front challenged the peace treaty demanding the creation of an exclusive ethnic homeland, namely Kukiland. It is high time for Bangladesh to adopt a comprehensive and informed peace strategy to tackle the ethnic conflict and security problems in a systematic and enlightened manner.

Dr Saleh Shahriar is an assistant professor of history and philosophy, North South University, Dhaka. This article is a part of a research project on the Changing Security Dynamics of the Chattogram Hill Tract.​

I think the time may come, at some point - to severely incarcerate tribals in the hill tracts and mete out much more severe punishment per new rules of anti-insurgency. These tribals are taking advantage of the restraint of Army deployed in that area.

 

[Saif]

I think the time may come, at some point - to severely incarcerate tribals in the hill tracts and mete out much more severe punishment per new rules of anti-insurgency. These tribals are taking advantage of the restraint of Army deployed in that area.

Bangladesh army should be given magistracy power to quell unrest in Chittagong Hill Tracts. Disobedience has to be dealt with an iron fist.

 

[Saif]

No more violence in Khagrachhari

The government must de-escalate tensions through proper measures.

www.thedailystar.net

No more violence in Khagrachhari
The government must de-escalate tensions through proper measures

VISUAL: STAR

We are gravely concerned by the latest flare-up in tensions between Indigenous and Bangalee communities in Khagrachhari, mere days after some normalcy was restored there. According to media reports, the district's situation escalated again on Tuesday when a teacher was beaten to death for allegedly raping a student, leading to attacks and vandalism. This is the latest incident in a string of violent, often fatal attacks by mobs that has plagued various parts of the country since August 5.

The latest victim, Abul Hasnat Muhammad Sohail Rana, a Bangalee teacher at Khagrachhari Technical School and College who was accused of raping a Tripura student, was beaten severely by a group of 10-15 Indigenous students, and died afterwards. The schoolgirl was admitted to a hospital, where doctors said there were indications of rape. Rana's death led to armed groups chasing and clashing with each other. A Buddhist temple was vandalised while several houses and shops of Chakma and Marma people were looted and torched, violating Section 144. This is reminiscent of what happened less than two weeks ago, when four Indigenous people, including a 17-year-old, were killed in violence that erupted in Khagrachhari and later spilt over to Rangamati.

We condemn these senseless acts from all sides involved. In no way is taking the law into one's own hands acceptable, nor is using it as an excuse to instigate and engage in communal violence. Reportedly, a probe committee has been formed to look into the incident. We urge those in charge to thoroughly investigate the events and identify the perpetrators so that they can be brought to justice. Moreover, the government must take strict actions to put an end to this disturbing trend of mob violence which, in the hilly districts, has the potential to inflame communal tensions at the expense of vulnerable people. We must stop this cycle of criminality anyway possible.

The recent incidents have again highlighted how susceptible to instability the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) remain. Over the decades, tensions between the Indigenous people and Bangalees have been fuelled and sustained by many actors for their own gains. It's high time this division was bridged through a reconciliation process overseen by political and community leaders. A major step in that direction would be the full implementation of the CHT Accord, which the authorities should start on an urgent basis. We must do everything to ensure that Indigenous communities in the CHT region are able to live in peace and stability.​

 

[Saif]

সনাতনী নির্যাতন প্রশ্নে চট্টগ্রামে কি ভারতের এখনই হস্তক্ষেপ করা উচিৎ ? (I am surprised at the audacity of this nincompoop)