This dyad belongs to the conflict Bangladesh: Chittagong Hill Tracts
Summary of conflict Bangladesh: Chittagong Hill Tracts
The armed conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts originated in the political and economical marginalisation of the area’s indigenous population. In 1972, PCJSS (Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti; Chittagong Hill Tracts People’s Coordination Association) was formed, and the group waged an armed struggle against the government from 1975 to 1992, after which conflict activity fell below that of an armed conflict. In 1997, a peace agreement was signed between PCJSS and the government.
Popular grievances and armed conflict, 1975-1992
Aspirations for autonomy among the tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) had already been expressed long before Bangladesh independence from Pakistan in 1971. Under British colonial rule the CHT had enjoyed a special status that made migration into the area virtually prohibited and provided the area with limited self-government. The constitution of Pakistan withdrew this status, initiating a process of external settlement into the area and a process of modernization that, according to many observers, precipitated the political and economical marginalisation of the tribal people. This policy of state-sponsored immigration was even more vigorously pursued by the new Bangladesh government from the time of independence from Pakistan.
The incompatibility concerning the constitutional status of the area was explicitly voiced at a meeting that took place in February 1972, between the new government of Bangladesh and a tribal delegation. The demand for autonomy, however, was rejected, and the new constitution made no provisions for a special status of the CHT. In fact it failed to recognize the existence of any alternative national community or sub-national identity within the state borders. In reaction to this, PCJSS (Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti; Chittagong Hill Tracts People’s Coordination Association) was formed to front the tribal populations demand for autonomy. Later the same year its armed wing, SB (Shanti Bahini; Peace Force), was established.
The PCJSS has led the armed insurgency in the CHT, and should, together with the government, be regarded as the primary warring party. A military campaign was initiated by Shanti Bahini in the mid-1970s, and warfare has largely been confined within the contested territory. To counter the insurgency the 24th division, constituting about one-third of the total Bangladeshi army, was deployed in the area in the mid 1980s. Several paramilitaries also joined the struggle, making the total estimated number of troops fighting on the government side as high as 90 000. The Shanti Bahini, on the other hand, was estimated to have mobilized around 5000 lightly armed guerrilla soldiers among the tribal populations. Bangladesh frequently asserted that India was aiding the rebels, providing them with bases, armaments, and military training. However, India denied all charges of secondary support to the rebels.
Negotiations, reform, and peaceful resolution of the conflict
After a decade of low-intensity guerrilla warfare, the military government took measures to find a political solution to the problem. Six rounds of dialogue between the government and various groups representing the tribal population were held between 1985-89, when the government decided to take unilateral measures to resolve the conflict. In March 1989 the parliament adopted four bills providing for the establishment of three regional councils in the largest of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) districts. These were entrusted with limited autonomy including, importantly, the power to regulate the transfer and sale of land rights in the area. Smaller factions of the rebel group accepted accordingly the general amnesties offered by the government in return for disarmament. The PCJSS (Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti; Chittagong Hill Tracts People’s Coordination Association), however, publicly rejected the councils as being powerless and as legitimising Bengali settlement in the CHT. The conflict intensified in connection with the holding of the first district-elections to the councils in June 1989, and by 1992 it had become increasingly apparent that the governments peace scheme had failed. The violence had not decreased and refugees continued to pour into neighbouring Tripura state in India, reaching 75 000 at its height in the early 1990s.
The first democratically elected government of Bangladesh came into office in 1992. This led to improved Indo-Bangladeshi relations, which in turn paved the way for an agreement with the Indian government to facilitate the repatriation of CHT refugees. The agreement indirectly also prevented rebel use of Indian Territory. The new government used this window of opportunity to pursue a series of measures designed to find a political solution to the conflict. A parliamentary committee was constituted to make recommendations on the issue and the government initiated a new round of negotiations with the rebels. Responding to this initiative the rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire on 11 August 1992, lasting for three months. This paved the way for the first ever political-level talks between the government and the rebels.
The ensuing truce between the parties was subsequently extended several times, in the shadow of continuing violence in the CHT. After 1992, however, this violence never reached the threshold of 25 fatalities per year. After a change of government in 1996, a new round of negotiations was initiated in December that year through the establishment of a special parliamentary committee. These negotiations were concluded with the signing of a peace agreement between the parties on 2 December 1997. A key provision in the accord was the creation of a CHT regional council, comprising the three district councils, with a range of autonomous responsibilities.
Domestic resistance against the accord was manifested on both sides. The main political opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), rejected the accord, saying it contradicted the unitary constitution and the interest of the Bengali-speaking settlers in the CHT. On the side of the tribal people at least three smaller groups – the Hill Students Federation, the Hill Peoples Council and the Hill Women’s Federation – at the time challenged PCJSS's role as the sole representative of the tribal people. Former associates of the PCJSS leadership formed the United Peoples Democratic Front (UDPF), which has continued to reject the peace agreement, demanding full autonomy. Many of the central legal and executive measures in the accord have been implemented, but the Bangladeshi army has not withdrawn from the area and central questions, for example about the reclamation of land by returning tribals, have not been solved. Within the tribal community there is persistent tension between pro- and anti-accord groups, as well as in the relations between the tribals and Bengali settlers. However, there has not been any fighting above the threshold of 25 battle-related deaths since 1992, and the conflict thus remains terminated.
