http://www.asianews.it/view_p.php?l=en&art=991
Asia News, 17 June, 2004
BANGLADESH
by Anol Terence DfCosta
Eastern Bangladesh hill people have rebelled against Bengalis
government. In this article, father Anol Terence OfCosta, 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
tribalsf land during last years. Hill people have lost their only
richness; for that, they rebel against the government of Bangladesh.
Chittagong Hill Tracts and tribals
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.
British colonisation, then Bengali and Pakistani
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 especial statusf 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 Rahmanfs 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 problem of the land
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.