Indigenous Peoples in Chittagong Hill Tracts: Struggle for Survival and Identity

Words by Bimbisa Chakma, Dinalo Chakma, Fiona Chakma, Tufan Chakma, and Parboti Roy

Oct 15, 2024

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This map is a digitally rendered topographic representations of Bangladesh (printed in 2D). In order to create these maps, Digital Elevation Data (DEM) is obtained from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and is processed and digitally rendered to create a highly detailed elevation profile of Bangladesh and printed on a flat surface. Different hypsometric colours, based on the flag and national colours of Bangladesh, are used to highlight the difference in elevation, creating this beautiful artwork. **(Available as print)**

Indigenous Peoples in Chittagong Hill Tracts

Struggle for Survival and Identity

Photo (collected from online): Indigenous peoples in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are at a rally.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh are inhabited by eleven Indigenous communities, known collectively as the Jumma people, including the Chakmas, Marmas, Mros, Bawms, Tripuras, and many more. These communities have distinct cultural and ethnic identities that set them apart from the Bengali majority. While they identify as Bangladeshis, their struggle centers around preserving their unique heritage, languages, and ancestral lands.

For decades, the Jumma people have faced systematic marginalization, including land dispossession, cultural assimilation efforts, communal violence, and human rights abuses perpetrated by state actors and Bengali settlers. The government's transmigration policies in the 1970s and 1980s aimed to alter the demographic balance in favor of Bengali settlers, leading to violent evictions and displacement of Indigenous peoples from their lands.

The CHT Peace Accord, signed in 1997 to address these grievances, has largely failed to resolve ongoing issues to this day. Despite its promises, communal conflicts, violence, and land disputes continue, exacerbated by government inaction and systemic discrimination.

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