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{{merge from|Bangladesh Civil War|date=August 2013}}
{{merge to|Bangladesh Civil War|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox Military Conflict
{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Chittagong Hill Tracts Conflict
|conflict=Chittagong Hill Tracts Conflict

Revision as of 19:15, 7 August 2013

Chittagong Hill Tracts Conflict
Date1977-1997
Location
Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
Belligerents
Shanti Bahini Bangladesh
Commanders and leaders

Manabendra Narayan Larma,

Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma AKA Shontu Larma,		 24th divisions GOC
Strength
250,000

22,632 (1991 June estimated)

Army-10,575

BDR-6,767

APBN-1,785

Police-3,505
Casualties and losses

9800 (1979-1991, November 30) KIA-5700

Wounded-15,432

Arrested-11,892

44 (1979-2008)

Army-17

BDR-9

APBN-2

Police-4

Ansar-8

VDP-4
1,677 (1,163 Bengali & 514 Tribal) civilians killed (1979-2008)

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Conflict was the political conflict and armed struggle between the Government of Bangladesh by the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts) and its armed wing, the Shanti Bahini over the issue of autonomy and the rights of the indigenous peoples and tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Shanti Bahini launched an insurgency against government forces in 1977, and the conflict continued for twenty years until the government and the PCJSS signed the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord in 1997.[1] [2][3][4][5]

Background

The conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts dates back to when Bangladesh was the eastern wing of Pakistan. Widespread resentment occurred over the displacement of as many as 100,000 of the native peoples due to the construction of the Kaptai Dam in 1962. The displaced did not receive compensation from the government and many thousands fled to India. After the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, representatives of the Chittagong Hill Tracts such as the Chakma politician Manabendra Narayan Larma sought autonomy and recognition of the rights of the peoples of the region. Larma and other Hill Tracts representatives protested the draft of the Constitution of Bangladesh, which did not recognise the ethnic identity and culture of the non-Bengali peoples of Bangladesh. The government policy recognised only the Bengali culture and the Bengali language and designating all citizens of Bangladesh as Bengalis. In talks with a Hill Tracts delegation led by Manabendra Narayan Larma, the country's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman insisted that the ethnic groups of the Hill Tracts adopt the Bengali identity.[6][7] Sheikh Mujib is also reported to have threatened to forcibly settle Bengalis in the Hill Tracts to reduce the native peoples into a minority.[6][7][8]

Insurgency

Consequently, Larma and others founded the Parbatya Chhatagram Jana Shanghatti Samiti (PCJSS) as a united political organisation of all native peoples and tribes in 1973. The armed wing of the PCJSS, the Shanti Bahini was organised to resist government policies.[7][9] The crisis aggravated during the emergency rule of Sheikh Mujib, who had banned all political parties other than his BAKSAL and the successive military regimes that followed after his assassination in 1975. In 1977, the Shanti Bahini they launched their first attack on a Bangladesh Army convoy.[7][9][10]

The Shanti Bahini divided its area of operations into zones and raised forces from the native people, who were formally trained. The Shanti Bahini attacked Bengali police and soldiers, government offices and personnel and the Bengali settlers in the region. The group also attacked any native believed to be opposing it and supporting the government.[11] The Military of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Police, Bengali settlers, the Shanti Bahini and its supporters have been suspected of committing human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing.[12]

Government reaction

At the outbreak of the insurgency, the Government of Bangladesh deployed the army to begin counter-insurgency operations. The then-President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman created a Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board under an army general in order to address the socio-economic needs of the region, but the entity proved unpopular and became a source of antagonism and mistrust amongst the native people against the government. The government failed to address the long-standing issue of the displacement of people, numbering an estimated 100,000 caused by the construction of the Kaptai Dam in 1962.[13] Displaced peoples did not receive compensation and more than 40,000 Chakma tribals had fled to India.[13] In the 1980s, the government began settling Bengalis in the region, causing the eviction of many natives and a significant alteration of demographics. Having constituted only 11.6% of the regional population in 1974, the number of Bengalis grew by 1991 to constitute 48.5% of the regional population.

In 1989, the government of then-president Hossain Mohammad Ershad passed the District Council Act created three tiers of local government councils to devolve powers and responsibilities to the representatives of the native peoples, but the councils were rejected and opposed by the PCJSS.[4]

Peace accord

Peace negotiations were initiated after the restoration of democracy in Bangladesh in 1991, but little progress was made with the government of prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, the widow of Ziaur Rahman and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[14] Fresh rounds of talks began in 1996 with the newly elected prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib.[14] The peace accord was finalised and formally signed on December 2, 1997.[5]

The agreement recognised the special status of the hill residents.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Rashiduzzaman, M. (1998). "Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord: Institutional Features and Strategic Concerns". Asian Survey. 38 (7). University of California Press: 653–70. doi:10.1525/as.1998.38.7.01p0370e. JSTOR 2645754. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "Bangladesh peace treaty signed". BBC News. 1997-12-02. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  3. ^ "Chittagong marks peace anniversary". BBC News. 1998-12-02. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  4. ^ a b c "Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, 1997". Banglapedia - National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  5. ^ a b Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs
  6. ^ a b Nagendra K. Singh (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh. Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. pp. 222–223. ISBN 81-261-1390-1.
  7. ^ a b c d Bushra Hasina Chowdhury (2002). Building Lasting Peace: Issues of the Implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Cite error: The named reference "VA" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ Shelley, Mizanur Rahman (1992). The Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh: The untold story. Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh. p. 129.
  9. ^ a b Nagendra K. Singh (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh. Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 229. ISBN 81-261-1390-1.
  10. ^ Bangladeshi Insurgents Say India Is Supporting Them - New York Times
  11. ^ "Shanti Bahini". Banglapedia - National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  12. ^ Human rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts; February 2000; Amnesty International.
  13. ^ a b "The construction of the Kaptai dam uproots the indigenous population (1957-1963)". Retrieved 2007-02-01.
  14. ^ a b "PCJSS". Banglapedia - National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2008-06-11.

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