Urgent call to prevent violence and ethnic cleansing in Chittagong Hill Tracts
Ansar Ahmed Ullah
Contributing Editor,Shottobani
London: Jumma Solidarity UK (JSUK) issued an urgent call to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). The organisation has appealed to the British PM Sir Keir Starmer and the international community to take immediate action to stop the ethnic cleansing and human rights violations against the indigenous Jumma people. The organisation also calls on the Bangladeshi government to ensure the safety of the indigenous population.
At a protest outside 10 Downing Street, the official residence and the office of British PM, on 28 September, the JSUK representatives said that in the past week alone, four innocent individuals have been brutally murdered due to their ethnicity. Tens of thousands of indigenous people in the CHT are living in fear, facing ongoing threats of violence, including arson attacks on their homes and villages. From 18-20 September 2024, Bengali Muslim settlers and the Bangladesh army reportedly burned down more than 90 shops and houses, killed four unarmed indigenous Jumma people, and seriously injured over 15 others. The protest was addressed by Rega Chakma, Jessy Chakma, Tajim Chakma, Ananda Bhikku, Vante Sumanashri, Jun San Chakma, Abhi Barua and Nipun Chakma.
“The international community’s silence is allowing this violence to continue unchecked,” said a spokesperson for Jumma Solidarity UK. “We hope this recent surge in violence will finally compel the world to take notice, giving the indigenous people of the CHT the voice they deserve and the right to live without fear.”
It further said the Jumma people, indigenous to the CHT, have faced systematic attempts to uproot them from their ancestral lands since Bangladesh’s independence. The Bangladesh military has openly stated their intention to acquire the land without the indigenous people. Government-sponsored settlement of plainland Bengali Muslim settlers has resulted in displacement of indigenous communities, ethnic massacres, rapes, and illegal land grabs.
Despite the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord, the situation has not improved. The Bangladesh military maintains control through terror tactics, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, and military raids.
Jumma Solidarity UK outlines several demands to the Bangladeshi government, including an immediate halt to violence and arson attacks against the indigenous population, withdrawal of all Bangladesh military camps from the CHT, arrest and prosecution of those responsible for crimes against the indigenous people, cessation of arrests of indigenous individuals on false charges, and enforcement of laws recognising and protecting the rights, safety, and land of the indigenous Jumma people.