DT e-Paper, Friday, Decdember 2, 2016

Opinion 21
DT
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2016
A brief history of grievances in the CHT
Is peace in sight for the Pahari population of Bangladesh?
LETTER
FROM
AMERICA
• Fakhruddin Ahmed
Since today is the 19th
anniversary of the signing
of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts Peace Accord, a brief
review of the recent history of the
indigenous people is in order.
Mir Qasim Ali Khan, the British
East India Company-installed
governor of Bengal after the ouster
of Mir Jafar Ali Khan, gifted the
The government must recognise indigenous land rights
To date, only a few
provisions of the
Peace Accord have
been implemented
Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to the
Company in the 1760s. In 1860, the
British designated CHT a district
of Bengal.
The Company demanded that
the indigenous people pay taxes in
the form of karpas or raw cotton,
which were collected by Bengali
agents, beginning the Bengali
migration to the predominantly
Pahari CHT. The Bengali migrants
were government agents, traders,
and money-lenders.
The Company switched to
cash taxation in 1789, forcing the
monetisation of the centuriesold
subsistence-oriented, Pahari
Jhum economy. Jhum cultivation
involved clearing the thicket of
the hillside through fire, which
yielded fresh soil, with the
cinders acting as fertiliser. Seeds
of different crops were mixed
and sown in this soil. Rice and
vegetables were harvested within
months; cotton, turmeric, etc
several months later; and wood
years later. After the land lost its
fertility, it was left fallow for 15-20
years, and the process is repeated
on different slopes.
The British opposed Jhum
cultivation because it yielded
low revenue, and it was harder
to impose political control over
a people continually shifting
their cultivation lands. They
introduced plough cultivation
in the 1850s, which created a
demand for Bengali cultivators
from the plains who possessed the
requisite knowhow. The Chakma
elite employed Bengali sharecroppers
to plough their paddy
lands in the flat valleys of the
CHT. The introduction of wet-rice
cultivation resulted in the influx
of Bengali craftsmen, artisans, and
traders.
The valley-dwelling and
plough-cultivating Chakma,
Marma, and Tripura became
relatively prosperous and
politically dominant. They were
less resistant to cultural intrusion
from the plains than the ridge-top,
Jhum-cultivating Mru, Bawm,
Pankhua, and Khumi.
Disregarding the indigenous
people’s historical rights to the
lands, in 1875, the British created
two categories of land: The
Reserve Forests (RF), and the
District Forests, now known as
Unclassed State Forests (USF).
By 1882-83, nearly a quarter of
the total area of the CHT was
“enclosed” as Reserve Forests,
transforming the lands of the
CHT into different categories of
property.
In 1881, the government of
Bengal restructured authority
among the Hill peoples, based on
three “chiefs” among their society.
Most of the CHT was divided into
three “circles,” each placed under
a chief: The Mong Circle under its
chief in Manikchhari, the Chakma
Circle under its chief in Rangamati,
and the Bohmong Circle under its
chief in Bandarban.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts
Regulation of 1900 provided the
legal framework for civil, revenue,
and judicial administration in
CHT. The regulation vested the
deputy commissioner (DC) with all
executive, judicial, and financial
powers, with absolute power over
land rights and settlements. It
reaffirmed the traditional structure
based on the three circles, while
redefining the relationship
between the chiefs and the district
administration under the DC.
Pakistan kept the CHT
Regulation of 1900, and Pakistan’s
1956 constitution preserved CHT’s
status as an “excluded area.”
The Pakistani government was
primarily interested in exploiting
the rich natural resources of the
CHT. Karnaphuli Paper Mill in
Chandraghona (1953), which
utilised bamboo and softwood
from local forests, was the first
developmental intervention. The
Karnaphuli Multipurpose Project
(“Kaptai Project” of 1957-63),
that generated hydro-electricity
by damming Karnaphuli river at
Kaptai, was the second.
The Kaptai Lake inundated
the valleys of Karnaphuli River
and its tributaries, including the
Chengi, Kassalong, and Maini
valleys. About 400 square miles
were submerged, including “Old”
Rangamati town, the main urban
centre of CHT. Catastrophically,
54,000 acres of the highly-prized
plough lands were submerged,
amounting to 40% of plough
lands. Many Paharis were
uprooted, and became internally
displaced. The Kaptai project
saw further influx of Bengali
and non-Bengali Pakistanis who
monopolised trade, commerce,
and government jobs, fueling
Pahari resentment.
In the conflict between Bengali-
Pakistani nationalisms in 1971,
most indigenous people remained
noncommittal. While the Chakma
and Bohmong chiefs gave support
to Pakistan, the Mong chief, and
some Chakma and Marma leaders
attempted to join Mukti Bahnini,
only to be rebuffed.
Limited collaboration with
the Pakistani Army by some of
them resulted in the erroneous
notion that all indigenous peoples
opposed Bangladesh’s liberation,
which they did not, and for which
they suffered deadly retribution.
Leading an indigenous
delegation, Manabendra Narayan
Larma met then Prime Minister
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with a
four-point demand on February 15,
1972: (1) Autonomy for CHT along
with the establishment of a special
legislative body for the region. (2)
Retention and endorsement of
the CHT Regulation of 1900 in the
new constitution of Bangladesh.
(3) Continuation of the offices of
the tribal chiefs. (4) Constitutional
provisions restricting further
amendment of the CHT
Regulation, and imposing a ban on
further Bengali settlement in the
CHT.
Bangladesh’s Constitution
(November 4, 1972) ignored
their aspirations. Abandoned
by their own government, they
formed the Parbatya Chattagram
Jana Samhati Samity (PCJSS) to
protect their interests. In response
to the government’s gradual
militarisation of CHT (1972-75),
the PCJSS’s military wing, “Shanti
Bahini,” (SB) was born.
Believing that foreign powers
were fomenting unrest, and had
designs for the natural resourcerich
CHT, General Ziaur Rahman’s
regime banned PCJSS, sending the
movement underground to India,
and triggering SB insurgency in
1976. A component of the counterinsurgency
strategy was to evict
and relocate them from their land,
and settle Bengalis there.
While the SB primarily targeted
Bengali settlers, the security forces
burned villages, tortured, and
killed men, and raped women in
retaliation, they allege.
Unable to quell the insurgency,
in October 1983, General Ershad’s
regime announced its willingness
to suspend further migration of
Bengalis to CHT, start dialogue
with the PCJSS leadership, and
grant amnesty to rebels.
It also initiated a generally
successful policy of government
largesse to “pacify” the indigenous
population. The CHT Peace Accord
was signed on December 2, 1997 by
the AL government.
In exchange for general
amnesty, repatriation, and
rehabilitation, the PCJSS/SB
members surrendered and
disarmed. The government agreed
to mechanisms for recognising
and recording of indigenous land
rights, cancellation of illegal leases
and settlements, setting up of
a Land Commission, a Ministry
of CHT Affairs to be headed by
an indigenous minister, and
a regional council (RC) with
jurisdiction over the entire CHT.
To date, only a few provisions
of the Peace Accord have been
implemented.
Current estimates put CHT’s
generally Theravada Buddhismpracticing
Pahari population
at over 50%. From less than
2% during the British period,
the Bengali, mostly Muslim,
population has skyrocketed to
49%. Although the demographic
dynamics of two-and-a-half
centuries cannot be reversed
overnight, indigenous grievances
can be partially assuaged if the
ecological disaster, Kaptai Dam, is
dismantled.
That would resurface 4,000
square miles of land, which should
be restored to the indigenous
Bangladeshis of CHT for their
exclusive use. •
Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed is a Rhodes
Scholar.