Asia - Bangladesh - General Information

 

General Conflict Information
Conflict name:	Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts)
Type of incompatibility:	Territory
Interstate/intrastate dimension:	Intrastate
Conflict status:	Terminated: 5 November, 1992
Date of first stated goals of incompatibility:	7 March, 1972
Date of first use of armed force:	1 February, 1975
Date of first battle-related death:	1 February, 1975
Date when conflict reached 25 battle-related deaths:	1 February, 1975

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Conflict Intensity and Warring Parties  

	Conflict intensity	Government of Bangladesh	JSS/SB
1992	Minor
Side A:Government of Bangladesh Side B1:JSS/SB
1991	Minor
Side A:Government of Bangladesh Side B1:JSS/SB
1990	Minor
Side A:Government of Bangladesh Side B1:JSS/SB
1989	Minor
Side A:Government of Bangladesh Side B1:JSS/SB

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Conflict Summary 

Aspirations for autonomy among the tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) had already been expressed long before Bangladesh' independence from Pakistan in 1971. Under British colonial rule the CHT had enjoyed a special status that made migration into the area virtually prohibited and provided the area with limited self-government. The constitution of Pakistan withdrew this status, initiating a process of external settlement into the area and a process of modernization that, according to many observers, precipitated the political and economical marginalisation of the tribal people. This policy of state-sponsored immigration was even more vigorously pursued by the new Bangladesh government from the time of independence from Pakistan.

The incompatibility concerning the constitutional status of the area was explicitly voiced at a meeting that took place in February 1972, between the new government of Bangladesh and a tribal delegation. The demand for autonomy, however, was rejected, and the new constitution made no provisions for a special status of the CHT. In fact it failed to recognize the existence of any alternative national community or sub-national identity within the state borders. In reaction to this, the Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS) was formed in March 1972 to front the tribal populations demand for autonomy. Later the same year its armed wing, the Shanti Bahini, was established.

The JSS/SB has led the armed insurgency in the CHT, and should, together with the government, be regarded as the primary warring party. A military campaign was initiated by Shanti Bahini in the mid-1970s, and warfare has largely been confined within the contested territory. To counter the insurgency the 24th division, constituting about one-third of the total Bangladeshi army, was deployed in the area in the mid 1980s. Several paramilitaries have also jointed the struggle, making the total estimated number of troops fighting on the government side as high as 90 000. The Shanti Bahini, on the other hand, is estimated to have mobilized around 5 000 lightly armed guerrilla soldiers among the tribal populations. Bangladesh has frequently asserted that India is aiding the rebels, providing them with bases, armaments, and military training. India however, has, denied any charges of secondary support to the rebels.

After a decade of low-intensity guerrilla warfare, the military government took measures to find a political solution to the problem. Six rounds of dialogues between the government and various groups representing the tribal population were held between 1985-89, when the government decided to take unilateral measures to resolve the conflict. In March 1989 the parliament adopted four bills providing for the establishment of three regional councils in the largest of the CHT-districts. These were entrusted with limited autonomy including, importantly, the power to regulate the transfer and sale of land rights in the area. Smaller factions of the rebel group accepted accordingly the general amnesties offered by the government in return for disarmament. The JSS/SB, however, publicly rejected the councils as being powerless and as legitimising Bengali settlement in the CHT. The conflict intensified in connection with the holding of the first district-elections to the councils in June 1989, and by 1992 it had become increasingly apparent that the government's peace scheme had failed. The violence had not decreased and refugees continued to pour into neighbouring Tripura state in India, reaching 75 000 at its height in the early 1990s.

The first democratically elected government of Bangladesh came into office in 1992. This lead to improved Indo-Bangladeshi relations, which in turn paved the way for an agreement with the Indian government to facilitate the repatriation of CHT-refugees, thus indirectly also preventing rebel use of Indian Territory. The new government used this window of opportunity to pursue a series of measures designed to find a political solution to the conflict. A parliamentary committee was constituted to make recommendations on the issue and the government initiated a new round of negotiations with the rebels. Responding to this initiative the rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire on 11 August 1992, lasting for three months. This paved the way for the first ever political-level talks between the government and the rebels.

The ensuing truce between the parties was subsequently extended several times, in the shadow of continuing violence in the CHT. After 1992, however, this violence did not ever reach the threshold of 25 fatalities per year. After a change of government in 1996, a new round of negotiations was initiated in December that year through the establishment of a special parliamentary committee. These negotiations were concluded with the signing of a peace agreement between the parties on 2 December 1997.

A key provision in the accord was the creation of a CHT regional council, comprising the three district councils, with a range of autonomous responsibilities. Domestic resistance against the accord was manifest on both sides. The main opposition party, the BNP, rejected the accord, saying it contradicted the unitary constitution and the interest of the Bengali-speaking settlers in the CHT. On the side of the tribal people at least three smaller groups; the Hill Students' Federation, the Hill People's Council and the Hill's Women Federation at the time challenged JSS' role as the sole representative of the tribal people.

Former associates of the JSS/SB leadership formed the United People's Democratic Front (UDPF), which has continued the violent struggle, demanding full autonomy. Many of the central legal and executive measures in the accord have been implemented, but the Bangladeshi army has not withdrawn from the area and central questions, for example about the reclamation of land by returning tribals, has not been solved. Within the tribal community there is persistent tension between pro- and anti-accord groups, as well as in the relations between the tribals and Bengali settlers.