CHT: What is the path to reconciliation?
Shops and houses have been burnt; cars and bikes have been torched. The Business Standard spoke to a lawyer and human rights activists to understand the reasons behind the violence and the way out
Four people were killed and at least 64 others injured in clashes in Khagrachari and Rangamati on 19 September following the death of a Bangali man, Md Mamun (30), on the night of 18 September.
Junan Chakma (20), Dhananjay Chakma (50), Rubel Tripura (30) and Anik Kumar Chakma (19) died in the clashes on Thursday and Friday this week.
Shops and houses have been burnt; cars and bikes have been torched. The Business Standard spoke to a lawyer and human rights activists to understand the reasons behind the violence and the way out.
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Open dialogues will take us towards reconciliation
Sayak Chakma
Lawyer and Activist
The deaths in the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) due to the violence have been a result of years of policy failure. The state has not been able to ensure basic political and civil rights to the indigenous people of the CHT. The lack of rights has perpetuated the violence and instability that plague the region. Indigenous people are our fellow citizens, and they are entitled to all the human rights of this country.
The state has continued to treat the indigenous people at CHT through the colonial legacy. It has affected the way social, economic and diplomatic functions are conducted, and it sometimes has an adverse effect on the preservation of human rights in CHT.
While the state has not been able to ensure the rights of the minorities in CHT, some of them will look for alternative ways to gain such rights. They will be provoked by various actors with vested interests. So, instability will continue.
The complex crisis in the CHT is mostly a political crisis. It has to be dealt with with political goodwill and integrity. Sadly, no government, regardless of its party affiliation, has viewed it as such. Therefore, the party may have changed but the old structure remained. No one has yet to reconcile via political means and ensuring equal rights.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord of 1997 has not yet been fully implemented due to legal and political hurdles. One side claimed that the accord has partially been implemented, and others claimed the main clauses of the issue have not been implemented yet. There has not been any proper follow-up dialogue regarding the accord as well. So, the whole situation has become quite murky.
There has to be an open dialogue. These dialogues will take us towards peace and reconciliation. When it happens, when parliamentary democracy is ensured in the CHT, the rogue elements will automatically be neutralized. Because they will have to gain power through popular mandate, and that means no more violence.
By ensuring rights and the rule of law for the people of the CHT, the current crisis can be averted. The state has to ensure a proper democratic environment in the CHT.
At the same time, it is the responsibility of the political parties of the CHT to conduct their political activities democratically and systematically.
We need to get rid of the 'hill people versus Bangali people' binary division from our psyche
Pavel Partha
Researcher and Writer
A total of one Bangali and four Indigenous peoples have been killed and hundreds more have been injured. The media always frames it as a "hill people versus Bangali conflict," which is a binary portrayal. We need to move away from this binary narrative, as it positions the indigenous peoples and Bangalis as opponents.
There are many underlying causes and controls behind these incidents in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, from the construction of the Kaptai Dam to land grabbing and many other issues.
In my view, the July uprising has raised several important unsolved questions. We've seen graffiti with messages like "Where is Kalpana Chakma'' or "When will the hills be free?" This reflects the sentiments of this Gen-Z or new generation. When it comes to state reform, we cannot ignore the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Indigenous peoples' rights issues. So, why is it that Bangalis are always at the forefront in every case of violence?
We are seeing their involvement now but who is motivating these Bangalis? Who incites them? Who pushed settlerism? There is demographic engineering in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and it's not the poor, disaster-displaced Bangalis who are responsible for this; they were forcibly brought here. These issues, including demographic engineering, cannot be overlooked, and no resolution will come without addressing them.
Maybe four indigenous people and one Bangali have died now, and you may pass judgment on this incident but Dighinala or Rangamati will remain the same. Perhaps tomorrow, next month, or next year, this kind of violence will resurface.
It will continue as long as we fail to resolve the root issues: ruling, land grabbing, their means of the traditional production system, jhum cultivation, monoculture, expansion of infrastructure, corporate tourism, ignorance of self-determination, Bangali chauvinism, structural discrimination, ecosystem degradation—each of these matters needs to be addressed.
Solving this is impossible without confronting the discrimination at the heart of these problems.
Today, I saw that a group of advisers of the interim government is planning to visit the area, which is a positive step. But what I want to address is, if your house burns down, your shop is destroyed, or people are killed—what do you actually do in such cases? The state usually provides financial compensation but money cannot heal the trauma of violence within the indigenous peoples.
The team needs to visit and meet with all political, social, religious, cultural and civil society groups. They should meet and hear with both Indigenous and Bangali peoples and need to identify the historical root causes and all underlying issues.
To free both the indigenous peoples and the Bangalis from this cycle of violence, a long-term process is needed. After the July uprising, there is talk of a political settlement but as long as people carry trauma, no real settlement can be reached. And we cannot continue to blame only the Bangalis and tactically hide all the underlying issues.
Just as the indigenous peoples of CHTs have a history, the Bangalis also have a history, and both should be respected and acknowledged. At the same time, there must be a thorough investigation into Mohammad Mamun's death as well as each indigenous killing and violence.
During the July uprising, the media reported the stories of Mir Mugdha, Abu Sayeed and Riya Goph in detail. People were inspired, and graffiti emerged in response.
When incidents like this occur in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, we expect the media to report on them from the ground, covering each case in detail. They should cover Mamun's death as well as the deaths of Dhononjoy Chakma, Junan Chakma, Rubel Tripura and Anik Chakma, with equal detail. This way, the binary division won't persist in our psyche.
But if we grow up with a binary mindset, we may see the CHT as a place to exploit—grab a hill, build a Marriott hotel, a rubber or tobacco garden, a military base or cut down the trees. They are all interconnected.
My suggestion is that this incident in Dighinala is not new; such events regularly occur in the CHT. However, because of the lack of proper investigations and justice for past genocide, murders, rapes, looting and land grabbing, and because of unresolved, multilayered issues, this kind of conflict persists in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Additionally, there is a need for cultural inclusion and openness in education and in countries policies. You might cut down a hill to build a resort but the indigenous people may believe their deity resides on that hill and it is sacred. If you don't understand or lack the sensitivity to this belief, there will be conflict.
You wouldn't desecrate a sacred site for Bangali Hindus or Muslims because you've been educated to respect such sensitivities. In the same way, we need to foster cultural and political education with the indigenous peoples; and we also need to confront the unresolved tensions and unanswered questions simmering in the hills.
This issue requires a comprehensive solution—simply addressing one incident will not resolve the underlying conflicts.
