Chittagong Hill Tracts Discussion

[Force_Recon]

what's the situation like there?and how much area does it cover ?where does the Hill Tracts start and where does it end?Is there a map of it?

does the CHT include the whole of Rangamati,Bandarban,Cox's Bazar?
do we have army camps there?or BDR camps?

there are surely Bengalis living there,right?aren't there judicial courts ,BD authority in the region or are they completely autonomous?

what was this Islamization policy the Larmas and Bhikkhus always talking about?
and according to the CHT peace accords how much power will the Bangladesh central government have over the CHT?

won't we be able to extract the mineral resources there?

[Severus]

the problems with The CHT began with the kaptai badh. a large section of land was flooded when the kaptai badh was operational and a lot of people lost homes

the tribal peoples lived there forever, they never needed any papers or any other authority to tell them where to live, but as population from other places of bangladesh began to settle at the CHT, their own existance began to shrink, which is why they r angry for ruining their natural habitat

[Force_Recon]

oh I see.okay lets see,if the CHT become autonomous we will lose our only major reservoir and resources of minerals ,right?along with more land.Its unconstitutional.we don't stop them from settling in Dhaka.Its hypocritic.

don't we have any supporters over this issue?

[junkviper]

Originally Posted by Force_Recon

oh I see.okay lets see,if the CHT become autonomous we will lose our only major reservoir and resources of minerals ,right?along with more land.Its unconstitutional.we don't stop them from settling in Dhaka.Its hypocritic.

don't we have any supporters over this issue?

u want some support?
u will throw me away from my house where my father , grandfather...lived . Then u will advice me to settele somewhere where the culture , religion everythin differs from mine. What should I do ? I will Protest. Thats what the CHT people are doin.

I personally visited that area several times while I was serving in defence.It would be great if the Bangalee people had a nice co existence with the CHT inhabitants. But they show thumb towards the hilly people.We better dont discuss this issue any more. COz as a bangladeshi I cant support the hill inhabitants , but as a human being I hav to support those poor,oppressed people.

[junkviper]

an example out of hundred sorry thousand or more?:

This 25 years old Tripura woman of Rambabu Dheba, Matiranga was not only gang raped by the Bangladesh Army personnel, but was also attacked by blunt knives

[Force_Recon]

highly unfortunate.
But are there accurate figures of the human rights violations?

The Daily Star Web Edition Vol. 5 Num 911

[oYn]

Originally Posted by junkviper

as a bangladeshi I cant support the hill inhabitants.

What do you mean by this line?

[junkviper]

Originally Posted by oYn

What do you mean by this line?

I mean I can't support their movement for gaining autocracy of that region.. Just ego problem ...aro kichu ...

[Force_Recon]

how much of Chittagong do they cover?

If the CHT becomes autonomous won't we lose control of the Kaptai lake?

[junkviper]

Originally Posted by Force_Recon

how much of Chittagong do they cover?

not gettin.

I am answerin based on my guess.i'l answer more aft as i hav a sem final exam today evening.

The hilly region comprising of three hill districts : Rangamati, Bandorban and Khagrachari, located at south-east corner of Bangladesh known as Chittagong Hill Tracts .Total area of the rcgion is 13.295 sq.km vith a population of 9,74,445. The area is bordered by the Tripura State of India in the North Mizoram of India in the North-West. The Cl- is inhabited by ten dilièrent linguistic tribes along with non-tribal population. The area covers vast forest land, “ide range of a hills and alluvial valley bottoms. Out of total 32,59,520 acres, forest covers 2423)45 acres which is three fourth of the total area.

The geography, ethnic composition, religion, culture and general of life of the people of this region are different from other parts of the country. People of different tribes, like the Chakma, Marma, Tripura etc. have been living in this region for years. The population density in CHT has been on the rise since 1951. largely due of 94 persons per sq.km. The economy of the CHT region is predominantly agrarian and an overwhelming majority of people depends on agriculture for their livelihood.

In 1960, a total of 55,000 acres of cultivable land was submerged due to building a dam on the Kaptai river of Rangamati. This area amounted to 40% of the total cultivable land of the CHT region. Thousands of families were economically affected and in 1964 about 50,000 families of Langadu, Barkal and Baghaichari thana went over to India.


As government’s settlement programs increased, so did the conflict between the tribal insurgent groups who were resisting the settling in of the non-tribal people in the sparsely populated land of the region. Therefore, 1970s was a period of violence where indigenous tribes, settlers and security forces accused each other of human rights violation, Specific incidents have remained controversial because of limited access to the area in terms of travel restriction, tight security. difficult terrain and fear of being attacked by the insurgent group.

The 1980 was period of clashes and attempts of peacemaking in the form of several meclings between the PCJSS and the government. In 1984, the government and Shantibahini agreed to a cease-fire, and the first batch of refugees returned from Tripura state of India. The cease-fire was extended at regular intervals from 1994-1997 and saw the return of many refugees.

Finally on 2nd December 1997, after several rounds of discussions, the government signed a peace treaty between with representatives of the PCJSS. The treaty is expected to bring an end to unrest and insurgency existing in the hill districts of Ichagrachari. Rangamati and Bandarban for the half-past two decadcs residing in CHT as a landmark attempt for all to live in communal harmony.

In conjunction with the peace agreement, repatriation of tribal refugees from Tripura has been completed. With the last batch of people returning of on the 1st of March 1998 in CHT, the total number of returnees since 1994 stood at 63,861. With the signing of the treaty, PCJSS has / been more supportive of the repatriation and the Shanti Bahini has turned in their weapons to the government.