Land alienated, hill people are marginalized

Eastern Bangladesh hill people have rebelled against Bengalis government. In this article, father Anol Terence O'Costa, Major Seminary of Dhaka, explains the reasons of this revolt. Original text could be found in Prodipon (4/2003), quarterly Review edited by the Faculty of the Holy Spirit Seminary of Bangladesh.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – In eastern Bangladesh there are conflicts between hill people and Bengalis soldiers. Bengalis settlers have occupied tribals' land during last years. Hill people have lost their only richness; for that, they rebel against the government of Bangladesh.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), covering 10% of the total area of Bangaldesh, are the home of 13 different people, of which Chakmas, Marmas e Tripuras total approximately 90%. The names of the other tribes are as followers: Kheyang, Lushai, Chak, Khumi, Mrung (Mru), Riang, Uchoi, Tanchagya, Bawm and Pangkhu. There are also some mnot ethnic communities such as Rakhain, Santal, Assamese, Manipuri and Garo but they are not counted as members of the CHT, because they were latecomers.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts are in the Southeast of Bangladesh and are its only hilly region. It has unique and beautiful landscapes, attractive to outsiders. The thirteen different indigenous peoples are living in close proximity to each other. The natural view, the different languages, dresses and festivals of the people are a source of amazement and pleasure to visitors.

After the partition of India in 1947 the government created unfavourable conditions for the ethnic communities. The Regulation of 1900 was honoured by Pakistan until 1960, but in 1964 the Pakistani Government abolished the 'special status' of the CHT. The ethnic leaders lost their power over land, which was taken over by the government and the Bengali settlers. The Pakistani Government closed the region to foreigners, it reopened only after a peace treaty was signed in December 1997. A lot of suffering and injustices, which remained unknown, occurred in the CHT during that period.

Serious troubles for the inhabitants of the CHT date back to 1960, when Kaptai Hydro-Eletric Project was started under US Aid funding. When the Kaptai Dam was completed in 1962, the new artificial lake covered 153 square miles of cultivable land. Rangamati town went down under water. More than 10,000 families were displaced , of whom 90% were Chakmas. A big amount was to have been granted by the Pakistan Government as compensation of the tribals. In reality only few money was spent. The settlement of Bengali plain-dwellers in the CHT had begun in Pakistan times. After the opening of Kaptai Dam the Pakistan government allowed for the first time the purchase of land by Bengali settlers. The government of Bangladesh did no mention Jumma nationnhood separately in the constitution of 1972, which was the tribals demand from a long time. It was written in the Constitution that all those who live in Bangladesh would be known as Bengalis. The CHT was treated as part of the hinterland of the country. The hill people were marginalized and alienated from the mainstream of the people. They were neglected and oppressed.

Between 1976-1981, i.s. during Ziaur Rahman's presidency, most of the Bengalis settled there. In 1979, he gave a secret order to have 30,000 Bengalis families migrate in the CHT and gave them 65 crores taka to settle there.. in 1980 at Kaukhali 3,019 Bengali families were given plots for housing and provided with a ration to 10 seers of wheat per week. The attacked tribals there with the help of the army and killed many of them. They burned houses, assaulted young women, damaged Buddhist temples and broke the statues of Buddha. According to the population census of 1991, the Bengalis were nearly half of the CHT population and soon they would become the majority. Before the partition in 1947, the Bengali population in the CHT was 2.5%, and rose 48.57% in 1991. the tribal people were becoming marginal; moreover, all the city and business centres are controlled by the Bengalis.

The CHT has the second largest forest area in Bangladesh, which makes the region evergreen: bamboo and banana have a great economic value. The Bengalis settlers are logging out the trees. They use bamboo in their factory and sell big trees in the markets. The hill people complained that the government arbitrarily reserved the jhum lands as croplands, orchards, homesteads, horticultural lands and tree garden. The leaseholders for rubber are mostly outsiders, who cut the trees and take over the land. As a result the hill people have lost their communal land. This gross injustice stirred the hill people to rebel against the government of Bangladesh.

• bangladesh
• tribalies
• conflicts