Crisis Phase (February 15, 1972-May 28, 1977): Members of the Chakma tribes (ethnic Jummas who were mostly Buddhists), demanded autonomy for the Chittagong Hills Tract (CHT) from the Bangladeshi government on February 15, 1972, but the government rejected the demands. Jyotindra Bodhipriya Larma and Manobendra Narayan Larma established the Chittagong Hills Tract United People’s Party (Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity – PCJSS) in support of Chakma nationalism on March 7, 1972. The Shanti Bahini (SB), the military wing of the PCJSS, was established on January 7, 1973.
Conflict Phase (May 29, 1977-December 2, 1997): The Shanti Bahini (SB) rebelled against the Bangladesh government in the Chittagong Hills Tract (CHT) beginning on May 29, 1977. Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels received military assistance from Mizo and Naga rebels in India and communist rebels in Burma). Government troops and Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels clashed on May 15, 1979, resulting in the deaths of 31 government soldiers. Government troops and Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels clashed on June 21, 1979, resulting in the deaths of 33 government soldiers. Government troops killed some 300 ethnic Jummas in Kalampati on March 25, 1980. Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels attacked a government police post in the Lohagara area on June 23, 1981, and Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels killed 14 Bengalis in the Mattranga area on June 25, 1981. Bengali settlers killed some 500 ethnic Jummas near Banraibari, Beltali, and Belchari on June 26, 1981. Some 5,000 ethnic Jummas fled as refugees to India. Bengali settlers and government troops attacked some 35 Jumma villages on September 19, 1981, resulting in the deaths of several hundred individuals. Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels killed 18 Bengalis on September 24, 1981. Some 20,000 individuals fled as refugees to India between June and September 30, 1981 (most of the refugees were repatriated between November 25 and December 2, 1981). Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels attacked a government police post on October 10, 1981, resulting in the deaths of nine individuals. Bengali settlers and government troops killed some 800 ethnic Jummas between June 26 and August 11, 1983. Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels killed more than 100 Bengali settlers on May 31, 1984. Government troops killed some 400 ethnic Jummas on May 31-June 1, 1984. Some 7,000 ethnic Jummas fled as refugees to India. Bengali settlers and government troops killed several hundred ethnic Jummas in the Panchari-Khagrachari area on April 29-May 1, 1986. Some 80,000 ethnic Jummas fled as refugees to India. Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels killed 18 Bengalis on December 25, 1986. Bengali settlers and government troops killed several hundred ethnic Jummas on August 8-10, 1988. Government and Shanti Bahini (SB) representatives began negotiations in 1988. Some 40 members of the Chakma tribe were killed by ethnic-Bengalis on May 4, 1989. The killings were in retaliation for the murder of Abdur Rahman Sarkar, chairman of the Langadu sub-district, on May 4, 1989. In 1990, the International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (ICHTC) was jointly established by the Organising Committee CHT Campaign (OCCHTC), which is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), which is based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Bengali settlers killed some 30 ethnic Jummas near Malya on February 2, 1992. Bengali settlers and government troops killed more than 100 ethnic Jummas in Khagrachari District on April 10, 1992. On July 10, 1992, the government established a nine-member parliamentary committee headed by retired Colonel Oli Ahmed to conduct negotiations with the PCJSS. The Shanti Bahini (SB) declared a three-month ceasefire on August 10, 1992. Bengali settlers killed some 100 ethnic Jummas in Naniachar on November 17, 1992. Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels attacked and killed one government soldier on May 31, 1993. Bengali settlers killed some 100 ethnic Jummas in Naniachar on November 17, 1993. Government troops and Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels clashed near Khagrachari village on May 19, 1996, resulting in the deaths of two government soldiers. Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels killed 30 Bengalis near Rangamati on September 11, 1996. The government offered to hold negotiations with the PCJSS on November 11, 1996. Government and PCJSS representatives held a sixth round of negotiations in September 1997. Government and SB representatives signed a peace agreement in Dhaka on December 2, 1997, which provided for the demilitarization of the rebels and for greater land rights to the Chakma tribes. More than 6,000 government soldiers and rebels, as well as 2,500 civilians, were killed during the conflict. Some 55, 000 individuals fled as refugees to India, and another 45,000 individuals were internally displaced during the conflict.
Post-Conflict Phase (December 3, 1997-present): The government announced an amnesty for Shanti Bahini (SB) rebels on February 6, 1998. Some 1,600 SB rebels turned in their weapons to the government between February 10 and March 4, 1998. Some 54,000 Chakma refugees were repatriated from India to Bangladesh in 1997 and 1998. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), World Food Program (WFP), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). European Union (EU), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Denmark have provided economic assistance to the CHT region since December 1997. On December 26, 1998, the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) was established in opposition to the 1997 peace agreement. The International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (ICHTC) was disbanded in 2000. Two ethnic Jummas were killed by Bengali settlers on August 26, 2003. The International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (ICHTC) – which is a twelve-member body co-chaired by Lord Eric Avebury (United Kingdom), Ms. Sultana Kamal (Bangladesh) and Dr. Ida Nicolaisen (Denmark) – was re-established on June 1, 2008. Bengali settlers attacked villages in the Baghaichat region of the Chittagong Hills Tract (CHT) on February 19-20, 2010, resulting in the deaths of two individuals. On February, 28, 2010, Catherine Ashton, head of EU Foreign and Security Policy, condemned the violence in the Chittagong Hills Tract (CHT). On May 21, 2011, four members of the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) were killed by gunmen in Rangamati in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). On July 13, 2011, the European Commission (EC) agreed to provide economic assistance to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Some 750 individuals have been killed in political violence in the Chittagong Hills Tract (CHT) since 1997.
[Sources: Arnold et al., 1991, 20-22; Associated Press (AP), December 2, 1997, February 10, 1998; Bercovitch and Jackson, 1997, 156-157; British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), December 2, 1997, August 7, 1998, December 27, 1998, February 25, 2001, December 3, 2002, December 2, 2003, December 8, 2003, December 15, 2005, July 30, 2009, January 27, 2010, February 23, 2010; Brogan, 1992, 140-144; Degenhardt, 1988, 20-21; Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), April 5, 1990, 22-24; Keesing’s Record of World Events, October 9, 1981, March 19, 1982, June 1993, December 1997; Kyodo News Service (KNS), December 2, 1997; New York Times (NYT), June 11, 1989; Reuters, September 14, 1997, February 22, 1998.]
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