Chakmas urge Modi to raise CHT issue during Dhaka visit

June 6, 2015:

Chakma National Council of India (Central Committee)
Gen. Hqrs. New Delhi Email:[email protected]
Dated Kamalanagar, the 4th June 2015

To,
The Hon’ble Prime Minister
Government of India
New Delhi

Subj: Request to raise the issue of Chakma problem in Chittagong Hill Tracts during your upcoming visit to Bangladesh.

Hon’ble Sir,

Chakma National Council of India on behalf of the Chakma people of India sends you greeting ahead of your visit to Bangladesh. Taking opportunity upon this visit of yours CNCI begs to apprise you on the plight of the Chakmas of Bangladesh and request your honour to raise the issue with your counterpart.

2. That, the Chakmas are one of the oldest community of the Indian sub-continent ‘Bharat’ whose culture, language and script have the imprint of the rich heritage of ‘Bharat’. They have lived a large swath of Southeast Asia predominantly in Chittagong Hill Tract of Bangladesh besides in the Northeast of India and Arakkan Hills of Myanmar. They were an independent race in Chittagong Hill Tracts before the arrival of the British with their own system of administration. Although with the coming of the British they came under their subjugation but they enjoyed a special status under the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation 1900 which made it out of bounds for the plain people. The Regulation made no provision for representation in the Bengal Legislative Assembly which underlines the jurisdiction over the area beyond the Government of Bengal and subsequently, when Government of India Act 1935 was enacted the area was declared as “Excluded Area” with many parts of Northeast India.

3. That, the fate of the Chakmas of CHT took an unhappy turn when this special status of being an “Excluded Area” got overlooked during the partition of India. The Bengal Boundary Commission headed by Sir Cyril Redcliffe had done injustice by awarding the CHT to Pakistan against the term of the Bengal Boundary Commission which clearly states that a Muslim majority area shall go to Pakistan and a Hindu majority area shall go to India and CHT had more than 97% non-Muslims and yet it was awarded to Pakistan. Besides, CHT being an “Excluded Area”, it was beyond the jurisdiction of Bengal Boundary Commission. By virtue of being an excluded area the people of CHT had no representation in the Bengal Assembly and therefore, no chance of taking part in the deliberation of the partition of Bengal.

4. That, sir the problem of the Chakmas is inherently linked with the faulty partition of India. The Chakma leaders went to New Delhi prior to Independence and received assurance from the Indian National Congress leaders that the CHT would be included in India. However, CHT was awarded to Pakistan against the wishes of the Chakma people of CHT. The Chakmas to show their desire to be with India on the 15th of August 1947 hoisted the Indian National Flag at Rangamati to the ire of the Government of Pakistan. Since then a hostile relationship was set on. In 1964, through a constitutional amendment the autonomous status so far enjoyed by the people of CHT was brought to an end. This was done with a design to assimilate the indigenous population of CHT with the mainland Muslim Bengali people and to exploit the resources of the area. This ambition of the Government of Pakistan and subsequently of Bangladesh made adopt policies at the cost of suffering of the innocent hill people of CHT. In 1964, the Kaptai Hydro Power Project was undertaken which submerged 20,000 hectares of cultivable land and displaced 1,00,000 tribal people who migrated to India for shelter. Planned programmes of settling landless Muslim Bengalis were undertaken which resulted in demographic change of the area with now 50% Muslim population. The tribal people finally took to arm rebellion to stop further settlement of Muslim Bengali settlers. The area is now heavily militarized and gross human rights violation is a daily affair. On 2nd December 1997, the Government of Bangladesh signed a peace Accord with the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samity and the Shanti Bahini, its armed wing. However, the Peace Accord so signed is yet be fully implemented and in the meantime, human rights violation continues unabated.

Finally, sir the problem of the Chakmas has its root to the injustice being done to them during the partition of the country. The fate of the Chakmas would not have been as it is today, had it been the supposed eight sister of the Northeast India. The Indian leadership must take the blame for the failure to include the Chittagong Hill Tracts within the dominion of India despite all grounds in favour of its inclusion and in spite of its mention being made as part of West Bengal in the provisional boundaries of Indian Independence Act. Today, if Chakmas are suffering because of persecution and human right violation in Bangladesh and deprivation in Northeast India, Indian Government is duty bound to protect their interest.

Therefore, sir drawing a sense of right over the Government of India from the fact stated above, we the undersigned members of Chakma National Council of India, on behalf of more than 2 (two) lakh Chakmas of India urge your honour to strongly raise the issue of gross human right violation and religious persecution being meted out to the Chakmas and other Jumma tribes of Chittagong Hill Tracts. Further, a permanent solution to the problem of the Chakmas of Bangladesh be pushed for with the Government of Bangladesh in all the bilateral engagements that may take place between the two countries in the years to come.

Yours faithfully,

(ANIRUDHA CHAKMA)
President
Chakma National Council of India

(HEMANTA LARMA)
General Secretary
Chakma National Council of India

(RASIK MOHAN CHAKMA)
President
Mizoram State Committee of CNCI

(NIRUPAM CHAKMA)
Vice-President
Mizoram State Committee of CNCI

(SAMU DHAN CHAKMA)
President
Assam State Committee of CNCI