Eva Gerharz: „The Construction of Identities: The Case of the Chitta ...

Construction of Identities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts
consider the Chakma to be of Muslim origin, other theories, particularly those which are
propagated by the Chakma themselves, tell that they migrated from a place called Champaknagar
12 to the Hill Tracts (Mohsin, 1997, 12ff). This unclearness is sometimes utilised for
political discussions, as they are regarded as being a “rootless tribe” by Abedin 13 (1997, 58).
The Chakma are Buddhists, whose society shows patriarchal patterns, and they are not just
numerically the dominant group in the CHT. Most of the political leaders who influence the
policies and processes of decision are members of the Chakma, as well as those taking part in
insurgency actions. 14 They are concentrated in Rangamati and Kagrachari district. In Rangamati
they are the vast majority of the indigenous populations and the Rajbari 15 of the Chakma
chief is located there.
Marma:
The Marma, who also belong to the Mongoloid group are Buddhists as well. The Marma
community is divided into two; one mainly lives in and around Bandarban, the other in
Kagrachari. 16 Both of these groups came from Arakan in Burma. The word Marma itself derives
from the name “Myanmar” for the Burmese nation (Prue, 1994, 1). The southern Marma
came to the Chittagong area in the 17 th century, went back to Arakan in 1756 under Moghal
pressure until they finally reached Bandarban in the 19 th century. The northern Marma were
refugees driven out of Arakan some time later (Mohsin 1997, 15). As I was told at the Tribal
Cultural Institute in Bandarban, the Marma language and script (which is almost forgotten) is
very similar to Arakanese. Unusual for the CHT groups is the latent bias towards matriarchal
societal structures among the Marma, which is revealed by the literature (Shelley 1992, 53).
My empirical data show that the Marma gender order can considered to be extraordinary in
comparison to the Bengali society 17 . Norms in respect to the occupation of public spaces for
12 There is no hint to find where the city of Champaknagar was. Some theories maintain that it was located near
Malacca, in Tripura, in Bihar or somewhere in Thailand
13 His opinion about the other groups is not better. In the Chapter “CHT: Home of Alien Tribes” he writes: „All
the tribes living in the CHT are outsiders and none of them are sons of the soil” (Abedin 1997, 53)
14 The Chakma-dominance among the hill people will be explained and analysed more broadly in the following
chapters. This fact is essential for the understanding of the dynamics of ethnicity and identity-construction.
15 The chiefs’ residence
16 Mohsin tells that they had two chiefs, the Bohmang Raja in Bandarban, the Mong Raja in Ramgarh. The
community was divided by the Karnafuli river, those living south were headed by the Bohmang chief, those
living in the north were ruled by the Mong chief. Of interest here are the southern Marma, since I have been in
Bandarban and have very little knowledge about the northern group. As I was told the difference is not of great
importance
17 During my field work I observed that the gender order among the Hill People varies to some extent from that
of the Bengali society. These differences can be traced back to religion for example and will be examined in
Chapter 6 more broadly