Working Area
Summary
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (hereafter CHT), an area of 13,295 square kilometers, is the south eastern part of Bangladesh, bordering the Arakan and Chin States of Myanmar (Burma), and Tripura and Mizoram States of India. From the time immemorial the CHT have been the home of thirteen indigenous ethnic groups. They collectively identify themselves as the Jumma people, the first peoples of the CHT. They are Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Tanchangya, Mro, Murung, Lushai, Khumi, Chak, Khyang, Bawm, Pankhua, and Reang. Once making up 98% of the population, indigenous peoples now make up only 50% after the Bangladeshi government promoted legal and illegal settlement of the area by poor Bengalis from the plains area of Bangladesh. This has seen the Jumma both politically and economically marginalised.
In the Southern third of the CHT is Bandarban District (4,479²). This is where BNKS work and is the remotest and least populated (population 292,900) district of Bangladesh. It is characterised by poor provision of education, health, water, sanitation and communication facilities with the Jumma people, particularly the women and children, suffering the most.
The Jumma people are distinct and different from the majority Bengali population of Bangladesh in respect of race, language, culture, religion and ethnicity. The eleven Jumma tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) number 600,000 people altogether. They are the original inhabitants of the Hill Tracts, and their cultures, religions, languages and ethnic origin are entirely different to those of the majority Bengali population of Bangladesh. The Buddhist Chakma and Marma tribes are the largest, numbering 350,000 and 140,000 people each, followed by the Hindu Tripura, of whom there are 60,000. The other tribes number another 50,000 or so people altogether. The Buddhist emphasis on the scriptures has helped give the CHT the highest literacy rates in Bangladesh.
Current Situation
Increase in population density due to the government induced settlers (see history below), the linked loss of land rights and increased unsustainable commercial logging has reduced the fertility of the available cultivation suitable land. This has been reinforced by the resultant increased intensity of cultivation, increased rainfall surface run-off and decreasing wild animal and plant diversity leading to a reduction in the ecosystems replenishment capabilities. The result is increased agricultural labour by all family members, diminished crop yields and reduced incomes. The combined effects of 20 years of insurgency warfare, neglect by successive governments and the hilly terrain has meant that the availability of key services – education, health, water, sanitation, electricity and communication is extremely limited. Added to the reduced agricultural output, disappearing eco-system and political exclusion, this has meant the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts suffer from multiple disadvantages, have to live in poverty, are unable to influence decisions which affect their communities and are having their entire way of life threatened.
People and Culture
The people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) are distinct from that of the rest of Bangladesh and have more in common with ethnic groups from the neighbouring regions of Myanmar and India. Those in the Bandarban District are mainly from the Marma tribe but people from a further 10 indigenous ethnic groups also inhabit the District – Mru, Tanchangya, Bawm, Khyang, Tripura, Lushai, Khumi, Chak, Chakma, and Pangkhua. Outside the major towns, people mainly live in small communities of 20-60 families in bamboo houses perched on the hilly terrain which are often at least a half day or mores walk from the major town and market. Each group has their own distinct customs, dress, dance, language and lifestyles meaning the area is a rich tapestry of colour and diversity. The main religions of the groups are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Animism. This diverse mix means that festivals and celebrations (both religious and indigenous in origin) are a regular occurrence in Bandarban.
Geography and Agriculture
The rugged Chittagong Hill Tracts cover an area of around 13,200 sq km. The topography of the region is uneven, consisting of several small valleys and several hundreds of steep to very steep hills (200-1100m). Only about 6% of the total land area is suitable for intensive crop cultivation and of this 40% was submerged by the Kaptai hydroelectric dam project. The average rainfall is 2000-3800mm of which 80% occurs during the months of May to September. Temperatures range between 25 – 34 ?C.
There is little flat land suitable for intensive agriculture, so the tribes of the Hill Tracts practise a sophisticated form of ‘shifting cultivation’ to get the best out of their steep slopes. They clear and burn the surface vegetation before planting a mixture of crops to provide a variety of foods all year round. At the end of the annual cycle the land is left to recover, and the people move on to a new area. Communities need large areas of land, as only a small fraction is in use at any one time. This practice is known locally as ‘Jhum cultivating’– hence the name ‘Jumma’ to refer to the tribes of the area. The system has worked for centuries, and is the only truly sustainable way to farm in the hilly regions.
Fruits (banana, pineapple, jackfruit, papaya), masala (ginger, turmeric) and tribal textile are the major exports of the district, with tourism growing fast as a source of revenue. Much of the trade in fruit, like most other commerce in the district, has been taken over by Bengali settlers.
History
1. British Period(1787-1947):
Similar to other indigenous peoples of the world, the Jumma people were also independent before the British colonial period. The British annexed the CHT area in 1860 and created an autonomous administrative district known as “The Chittagong Hill Tracts” within the undivided British Bengal. In 1900, the British enacted the Regulation 1 of the 1900 Act in order to protect the Jumma people from economic exploitation of non indigenous people and to preserve their traditional sociocultural and political institutions based on customary laws, common ownership of land and so on. Throughout the British colonial period the 1900 Act functioned as a safeguard for the Jumma people, prohibited land ownership and migrations of non indigenous peoples in the CHT. In 1947, Indian subcontinent was partitioned by British interpretation on the basis of religion, Pakistan for Muslims and secular India for non Muslims and Muslims alike. Despite 98.5% of the population of the CHT were Jummas and thus non Muslims, the Boundary Commission of Great Britain ceded the CHT to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in violation of the principles of partition and against the wishes of the Jumma people. The Jummas vehemently protested against the decision, but to no avail.
2. PAKISTAN PERIOD(1947-1971):
Different from the majority population of Pakistan which were seen to define the nation, Jummas were discriminated in jobs, business and education. During the Pakistani rule, the Government of Pakistan amended the 1900 Act several times against the wishes of the Jumma people allowing for migration of non indigenous people into the CHT. It deliberately ignored the fact that the 1900 Act was an indispensable legal instrument for ensuring the safeguard of the Jummas, and that it could not be amended without mutual agreement. The predicament of the Jumma people increased with the building of a hydroelectric dam in the early sixties in the Ragamati District of the CHT. This dam flooded 1,036 Square Kilometers of land, including 40% of the best arable land and displaced 100,000 Jummas from their ancestral homes with little reparation.
3. BANGLADESH PERIOD(1971- PRESENT):
After nine months of war of independence with Pakistan, Bangladesh emerged as an independent state on 16 December 1971. During the war of independence it was alleged that the Jummas in general remained indifferent to the cause of war against Pakistan. On 15 February 1972, a delegation of the Jumma people led by M.N. Larma, called on Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and submitted a written memorandum with four point charter of demands consisting of 1) Autonomy for the CHT, 2) Retention of the CHT Regulation 1900, 3) Recognition of the three kings of the Jummas, 4) Ban on the influx of the non Jummas into the CHT. Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman categorically rejected these demands. In March 1972, M.N. Larma formed Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS), later a military wing, the Shanti Bahini, was added to it. In protest against the rejection of the demands of the CHT people the Shanti Bahini launched a guerilla campaign of insurgency against the Bangladeshi Army in the region. This lead to a 20 year guerilla war between the forces with the population of the CHT, especially the indigenous, suffering the most.
- BANGLADESHI SETTLERS:
In the late 1970s the State sponsored migration of Bangladeshi settlers into the CHT, providing land grants, cash and rations. Bangladeshi settlers (often the poor and landless), with the connivance of the almost totally Bengali administration, have been able to take over land and even whole villages from the Jummas. By 1981 the Bangladeshis made up nearly one third of the total population of the CHT.
- THE CHT TREATY:
The Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS), the political platform of the Jumma people, signed a treaty with the Bangladesh government on 2 December, 1997. In the treaty there was an agreement to cease insurgency on the part of the Shanti Bahini whilst the Bangladeshi government agreed to the formation of CHT Regional Council with increased powers over the administration of the CHT, the return of land to Indigenous People after a land survey has been undertaken and all non-permanent army camps to be removed.
However, changing government administrations and an apparent lack of will on behalf of The Bangladesh government has meant the 1997 CHT Treaty remains unimplemented and the problems of the Jumma people and their difficult relationship with the settlers (who also suffer from the situation) continue. Bengali settlers now make up 50% of the CHT population.