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Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict

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Insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts
Part of the Cold War and Terrorism in Bangladesh

Shanti Bahini insurgents, photographed on 5 May 1994
DateFirst phase:
c. 1977 – 2 December 1997 (20 years)
Second phase:
Since 20 October 2022
Location
Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
Status

Ongoing

Belligerents

First phase (1977–1997):

First phase (1977–1997):

Logistical support:

Second phase (since 2022):

PCJSS-MN Larma
UPDF-D

Second phase (since 2022):
PCJSS

UPDF

Second phase (since 2022):

Kuki-Chin National Front
Commanders and leaders
First phase (1977–1997)
Second phase (since 2022)

Second phase (since 2022):
Shantu Larma

Prasit Bikash Khisa
Rabi Chakma

First phase (1977–1997):

Second phase (since 2022):

Units involved

First phase (1977–1997):

Paramilitary forces:Law enforcement:

Second phase (since 2022):
 Bangladesh Army

Paramilitary forces:

First phase (1977–1997):

Second phase (since 2022):

Kuki-Chin National Army
Strength
  • 115,000–150,000[2]

First phase (1977–1997):

  • : 2,600–15,000[1]

Second phase (since 2022):
: 2,000[4]

Casualties and losses
First phase: 6,000+ combatants killed (partial list)[5]
  • 3,500–25,000 civilians
  • (Native Bengali and tribal villagers)[1]
  • 80,000 civilians displaced[6]
  • 30,000 deaths[6]
  • 400+ conflict-related deaths from disease in Bangladesh (June–Aug 1995 only)[7]
  • 7,000+ non-violent deaths among refugees in India (14–21 May 1990 only)[7]

The insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bengali: পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রামে বিদ্রোহ), also known as the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict (Bengali: পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম যুদ্ধ), refers to a political and armed conflict that occurred in Bangladesh in two phases:

The actions then carried out by the Armed Forces and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti groups resulted in casualties on both sides.[12] There were also reports of mass rapes by the paramilitary Bangladesh Ansars, though these claims are disputed.[13] According to Amnesty International as of June 2013, the Bangladeshi government had still not honoured the terms of the peace accord nor addressed the Jumma people's concerns over the return of their land. Amnesty estimated that 90,000 Jumma families had been displaced internally.[14][15]

Background

[edit]

The origin of the conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts dates back to the British rule. The British, at the end of the 19th century, reorganized CHT. This resulted in the recognition of three tribal chiefs (rajas) in 1860, (b) enactment of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Frontier Police Regulations in 1881, authorizing a police force from among the hill peoples, and (c) enactment of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulations in 1900, giving them rights and autonomy.

When Bangladesh was the eastern wing of Pakistan, widespread resentment occurred over the displacement of as many as 100,000 natives 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 including Manabendra Narayan Larma demanded for autonomy and recognition of rights for natives in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Larma and other Hill Tracts representatives protested the draft of the Constitution of Bangladesh as it did not recognise the ethnic identity and culture of non-Bengalis of Bangladesh. The government policy recognised only Bengali culture and the Bengali language, and designated all citizens of Bangladesh as Bengalis. In a discussion with a team led by Manabendra Narayan Larma, it was claimed that Bangladesh's the then head of state, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said that the natives of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are all yet still Bengalis and must accept it which later was proven to be a false allegation.[16][17][18]

The migrated hill Jummas were given with special treatment, as they were the minority after independence in 1971.[19] The rebellion by the Jummas began after the independence of Bangladesh.[20]

Insurgency

[edit]

First Phase: 1977–1997

[edit]

M. N. Larma and others founded the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) as a united political organisation of all native peoples and tribes in 1973. The armed wing of PCJSS, Shanti Bahini was organised to resist government policies. The crisis aggravated during the regime of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the successive military governments that followed after his assassination in 1975. In 1977, the Shanti Bahini launched their first attack on a Bangladesh Army convoy.[21][17][22]

It is alleged that the Indian government helped the Shanti Bahini set up bases across the border from Bangladesh.[23] According to a spokesperson of Shanti Bahini, they received military assistance from India after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Their spokesman, Bimal Chakma, stated, ''At the beginning we got some consideration, but it is very low compared with what we need.''[24]

The Shanti Bahini divided its area of operations into zones and recruited natives, who were formally trained. The Shanti Bahini led attacks on Bangladesh Police and army men, government offices, personnel and Bengalis in the region. The group also attacked any native who didn't support the rebellion against the Bangladeshi government.[25] According to government sources between 1980 and 1991, 1,180 people were killed by the Shanti Bahini, and 582 were kidnapped.[23][26]

400 Chakmas including Anupam Chakma absconded to India to evade arrest or caprure by Bangladeshi forces in 1989.[27] Demographically, Chakmas were the dominant native community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, so naturally Chakmas dominated the Shanti Bahini.[28]

G. M. Mushfiqur Rahman, a lieutenant in the Bangladesh Army posted in 1 Field Artillery Regiment of Bangladesh Army in Chittagong Hill Tracts on 8 September 1989 led a 17—member team of Bangladesh Army personnel and attacked a Shanti Bahini camp. Lieutenant Rahman was injured during the clash and died on that day at 8:15 am. He was posthumously awarded with Bir Uttom, the second highest award in Bangladesh for individual gallantry.[29]

On 11 September 1996, Shanti Bahini rebels reportedly abducted and killed 28 to 30 Bengali woodcutters.[30]

Detention

[edit]

People living in the Hill Tracts area were often detained and tortured in custody on suspicion of being members of the Shanti Bahini or helping them. There were numerous check posts on highways and ferries in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.[31]

People who are detained on suspicion are subjected to severe beating, electrocution, water boarding, hanging upside down, shoving burning cigarettes on bodies etc. Prisoners are detained in pits and trenches. The captives are then taken out for interrogation one at a time.[citation needed]

Peace accord

[edit]
Main article: Chittagong Hill Tracts 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.[32] Fresh rounds of talks began in 1996 with the newly elected prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[32] The peace accord was finalised and formally signed on 2 December 1997.[10]

The agreement recognised the special status of the hill residents.[9] Chakma rebels were still in the Chittagong Hill Tracts as of 2002.[33]

Chakmas also live in Tripura, India where a Insurgency in Tripura lasted between 1989 and 2024.[34]

2018 ambush

[edit]

21 years after the peace treaty on 5 May 2018 unidentified gunmen ambushed and assassinated 5 people in Rangamati district, including UPDF leader, Tapan Jyoti Chakma. It is suspected the attack was caused by conflicts between factions. This is the deadliest such incident involving the indigenous tribal community since the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord in 1997.[35][36]

Second Phase: since 2022

[edit]
See also: Kuki-Chin National Front

The secessionist Kuki-Chin National Front led by Nathan Bom begun to fight for the establishment of a separate autonomous or independent state for the Jumma and Kuki-Chin people, using guerilla methods since 2022.[37][38]

Amidst intelligence reports of insurgency buildup in the region, on 20 October 2022, Bangladesh authorities issued a travel ban in the Bandarban district.[39]

By early 2023, clashes between KNF cadres and security forces had intensified. On 28 January 2023, a KNA fighter was killed in a gunfight with the Bangladesh Army in Ruma Upazila, in the Artha Para and Bachlang Para areas, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal.[38][40][41] A few months later, on 17 May 2023, two Bangladesh Army officers were killed and two more wounded in an ambush involving an IED and small-arms fire by KNA fighters.[38][42]

Despite the violence, there were efforts to negotiate. A Peace Establishment Committee was formed under the Bandarban Hill District Council in mid-2023 to engage the KNF in talks.[43][44] On 5 March 2024, the KNF agreed to a one-month ceasefire and pledged to refrain from attacks, as part of efforts to sustain dialogue.[44] However, those peace talks broke down: in April 2024, the council announced the suspension of negotiations, as a cause of ongoing KNF attacks and violations of prior memoranda of understanding.[43]

The group’s operations then began to grow bolder. On the night of 2 April 2024, KNF militants carried out a high-profile bank robbery, raiding a Sonali Bank branch in Ruma, and reportedly looting around 15 million takas.[37][45] During the same episode they allegedly abducted the bank manager; he was later released after mediation.[46] In response, Bangladeshi security forces launched a major pincer movement involving the Army, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and police.[47][48] Over several operations, they arrested dozens of suspected KNF militants: in April 2024, 53 cadres were detained in multiple coordinated raids.[38][47][49] Meanwhile, on 24 November 2024, the Bangladesh Army confirmed that three KNF militants were killed in a jungle raid in Ruma after a tip-off about a clandestine hideout.[11][50][51]

In May 2025, more than 20,000 combat-style uniforms were seized from a garment factory in Chittogong; the police linked the consignment to the KNF.[52] In June 2025, authorities arrested four persons, including a factory director, after seizing a vehicle from which they recovered uniform material allegedly destined for the KNF.[53]

A major development came in 2025 when the Army dismantled a KNF training camp in Ruma Upazila. Over a month-long operation from July until August, troops uncovered weapons-training gear, wooden mock rifles, trenches, bunkers, and other infrastructure.[54]

Kongchainyo Marma, the head of the northern armed wing of the Mog Liberation Party, was killed in an army raid in Shantinagar, Khagrachhari Sadar Upazila on 15 August.[55]

Government reaction

[edit]
A map of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

At the outbreak of the insurgency, the government of Bangladesh deployed the army to begin counter-insurgency operations. The then-president Ziaur Rahman created the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board under an army general 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 struggled 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.[56] Displaced people did not receive compensation and more than 40,000 Chakma people had fled to India.[56] 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 President Hossain Mohammad Ershad passed the District Council Act, creating three tiers of local government councils to devolve powers and responsibilities to the representatives of the native peoples; the councils were rejected and opposed by PCJSS.[9]

Persecution

[edit]

The persecution of the indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, including the Chakma, Marma, Tripura and others, who are mainly Buddhists, has been described as genocidal.[57] There are also accusations of Chakmas being forced to leave their religion, many of them children who have been abducted for this purpose. The government encouraged and sponsored massive settlement of Bangladeshis in the region,[58] which reduced the indigenous proportion of the population from 98 percent in 1971 to fifty percent by 2000.[59] During this conflict, which officially ended in 1997, and during the subsequent period, a large number of human rights violations against the indigenous peoples were reported, with violence against indigenous women being particularly extreme.[60]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Fortna, Virginia Page (2008). Does Peacekeeping Work?: Shaping Belligerents' Choices after Civil War. Princeton University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-4008-3773-1.
  2. ^ Dowlah, Caf (2013). "Jumma insurgency in Chittagong Hills Tracts: how serious is the threat to Bangladesh's national integration and what can be done?". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 24 (5): 775, 788–789. doi:10.1080/09592318.2013.866419. S2CID 144593890.
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  8. ^
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  11. ^ a b Khaing Lu Hla (Roma Mray) (4 July 2025). "Two KNF members killed, arms and ammunition seized in fight in Chittagong Hill Tracts: Bangladesh Army". Narinjara News.
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  20. ^ Crossette, Barbara (8 July 1989). "Khagrachari Journal; Seeking Happiness High in the Hills". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023.
  21. ^ Hazarika, Sanjoy (11 June 1989). "Bangladeshi Insurgents Say India Is Supporting Them". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014.
  22. ^ Singh, Nagendra K. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh. Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 229. ISBN 81-261-1390-1.
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  33. ^ Samrat (21 August 2012). "The "Imaginary Line" that Divides India and Bangladesh". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024.
  34. ^ Hazarika, Sanjoy (13 August 1988). "India and Tribal Guerrillas Agree to Halt 8-Year Fight". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 May 2024.
  35. ^ Chakma, Anvil; Barua, Sanjoy Kumar; Dewan, Saikat (5 May 2018). "Gun attack kills 5 in Rangamati". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Archived from the original on 7 September 2024.
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  37. ^ a b "Why Kuki-Chin National Front raising tensions in Chittagong Hill Tracts?". The Business Standard. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  38. ^ a b c d "SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW-Volume-22-No-46-Monday, May 06, 2024". satp.org. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  39. ^ "Bangladesh: Authorities issue travel advisory in parts of Bandarban District, Chittagong Division, as of Oct. 20". Archived from the original on 9 October 2023.
  40. ^ Bhattacharyya, Rajeev (22 November 2022). "Kuki-Chin Refugees from Bangladesh Take Shelter in Mizoram". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024.
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  43. ^ a b "Peace talks with KNF put on hold". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  44. ^ a b "KNF agrees to not carry out attacks for a month". The Daily Star. 5 March 2024. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  45. ^ "Sōnāli byāṅkē ḍākāti" সোনালি ব্যাংকে ডাকাতি [Robbery at Sonali Bank] (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 5 April 2024.
  46. ^ "Bangladesh arrests Kuki-Chin militant: 'Found him hiding inside locker'". India Today. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  47. ^ a b Das, S. Bashu (10 April 2024). "Bandarban raids: Police arrest man associated with KNF". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024.
  48. ^ "Army, RAB, Police, BGB to launch joint pincer operation against Kuki-Chin". The Business Standard. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  49. ^ Shaheen, Afsara (7 May 2024). "KCNF: Violent surge in Bangladesh". Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  50. ^ "3 KNF militants killed in Bandarban army operation". Prothom Alo. 24 November 2024. Archived from the original on 1 December 2024.
  51. ^ "Three KNF militants killed in Army operation in Bandarban: ISPR". The Business Standard. 24 November 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  52. ^ "Seizure of Kuki-Chin Uniforms: Do We Even Know the Real Numbers?". The Asiapost News. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  53. ^ "Vehicle with KNF garment materials seized in Ctg, 4 held". The Daily Observer. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  54. ^ bdnews24.com. "Army busts 'training camp' of Kuki-Chin insurgents in Bandarban". Army busts KNF 'training camp' in Bandarban. Retrieved 6 November 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  55. ^ "Armed wing chief of Mog Liberation Party killed in Khagrachhari". Dhaka Tribune. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  56. ^ a b "The construction of the Kaptai dam uproots the indigenous population (1957–1963)". Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
  57. ^ Gray 1994, p. 59; O'Brien 2004; Mey 1984; Mohsin 2003; Roy 2000; Beachler 2007, pp. 490–491
  58. ^ Hossain 2015, p. 105.
  59. ^ The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (2000). 'Life Is Not Ours': Land and Human Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh – Update 4 (Report). International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. p. 20.
  60. ^ Chakma, Kabita; Hill, Glen (2013). "Indigenous Women and Culture in the Colonized Chittagong Hills Tracts of Bangladesh". In Visweswaran, Kamala (ed.). Everyday Occupations: Experiencing Militarism in South Asia and the Middle East. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 132–157. ISBN 978-0812244878.

Works cited

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