Wednesday, December 2, 2009

HWF begins its 7th central council in Chittagong











chtnews.com
News No. 206/2009, November 20, 2009

The Hill Women’s Federation has inaugurated its seventh central council with a call to resist repression of Jumma women and speed up the struggle for full autonomy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

The inaugural ceremony was held at Islamabadi Memorial Hall of Kadam Mobbarak High School with the hoisting of the national, UPDF and HWF flags.

The hall was packed with participants, who spilled over on to the school ground.

Advocate Bhulon Bhowmik inaugurated the council at 11:30am to the thunderous applause. In his inaugural address Mr. Bhowmik said it was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who had set and initiated the repressive policies on CHT. “The Pahari people have their own land laws which are based on customs, but the Bangladesh state does not recognise them.” he said and demanded that this just right be recognised and protected.

Presided over by HWF president Sonali Chakma, the inaugural ceremony was also addressed by Mamun, General Secretary, Ganotantrik Front Chittagong Unit; Md. Anwar, convenor, Jatiya Chattra Dal Chittagong Unit; Sumi Chakrabarti, central committee member of Paribrajok Progoti Dal and a Masters student of Chittagong University; Rakib Uddin, a leader of Naya Ganotantric Gano Morcha; Mithun Chakma, General Secretary, Democratic Youth Forum, Ricoh Chakma, president, Hill Students’ Council and Shanti Dev Chakma, organiser, UPDF Rangamati District Unit.

HWF president Sonali Chakma expressed her solidarity with the Ghilachari women who have been enforcing road blocks, demanding punishment of an army man for attempting to rape a Jumma woman.

She said the Jumma women have become more vulnerable to sexual violence then ever. “They are nowhere safe in the CHT” she said adding, their safety and dignity can be ensured only if the army and settlers are withdrawn from CHT.

She demanded constitutional recognition to the Jumma people and their traditional land laws.

Shanti Dev Chakma said when it comes to the issue of Chittagong Hill Tracts there is no difference between the ruling national political parties such as Awami League, BNP, JP and Jammat.

“UPDF has been oppressed under all the previous governments and continue to be oppressed under the present government.” he said.

“This is because in the CHT the real government is not AL or BNP, but the army; it is the army who rule the roost, they are the final authority.” he added.

Expressing solidarity with the struggle of the Jumma people, Mamun emphasized the need for linking the struggle against national repression to the struggle against feudalism and imperialism.

“Until the struggle against imperialism and feudalism is won, there will be no let up in national repression”, he sad.

He also condemned the killing of UPDF leader Rui Khoi Marma in Laxmichari.

Md. Anwar said Bangladesh is a multi-national country. “It is not possible to find a solution to the national question under the existing state structure.” he said.

Supporting the demands of the Ghilachari women, Sumi Chakrabarti said the message of their resistance should be spread all over.

Rakib Uddin said the ruling class has ruined the country and the Jumma people should not expect much from this government.

Mithun Chakma narrated his experience of his recent visits to Panchari, Laxmichari, Naniachar and Jurachari, and said the army is the greatest threat to peace and survival of the Jumma people in CHT.

He described how Lt. Col. Sharif in Laxmichari has formed a terrorist gang -- the so-called CHTNF (Chittagong Hill Tracts National Forum) which is popularly known as Borkha Bahini or Veiled Force as its members cover their faces with Muslim veils during their actions.

Ricoh Chakma said full autonomy is the only solution to the CHT problem.

Rally
The inaugural ceremony was followed by a procession which marched to the Chittagong press club on Jamal Khan road.

An estimated 750 Jumma women took part in the procession, holding banners and placards and waving UPDF and HWF flags. They came from all over the CHT including Bandarban and belong to almost all the Jumma nationalities.

In addition, 50 Bengali sympathizers and 100 PCP and DYF members and supporters also took part in the programme.

Discussion
Later in the afternoon, a discussion on the role of women in the resistance against repression in Chittagong Hill tracts was held at the same hall room with Sonali Chakma in the chair.

The speakers included professor Mohammad Hossain Khan, joint convenor, Committee Against Fascism and Imperialism, Chittagong; professor Ferdous Ara Alim; Arup Barua, member, Bangladesh Lakhok Shibir Chittagong unit; Sadaf Nur-e-Islam, Associate professor, department of anthropology, Chittagong University; and Shanti Dev Chakma, a UPDF leader.

Professor Ferdous Ara Alim said the way the Jumma women have built up their movement is most appreciable. “My head bends down with respect when I think of it” she said.

Justifying the struggle of the Hill Women Federation, Mrs Ferdous said the Jumma women are regularly assaulted. She cited the example of Kalpana Chakma who was kidnapped by Lt. Ferdous in 1996.

Chittagong University teacher Sadaf Nur-e-Islam said “Kalpana Chakma is a symbol of resistance in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Once we tried to name a place after Kalpana Chakma on Jahangirnagar University campus, but the university authority refused to give us permission.”

She went on to say, “We – Paharis and Bengalis -- live side by side. When I hear the news of human rights violations in CHT it reminds me of the incidents of Ekattor (Liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971).”

Arup Barua shared his experience of his visits different parts of CHT and narrated how the Jumma people are subjected to repression and inhuman and degrading treatment.

He said the movement initiated by HWF is of different kind; it is born out of resistance against repression.

Professor Hossain Khan stressed the need for a simultaneous movement in the Hills and in the plain.

Ghilachari road blockade continues: army arrests two in Kudukchari

chtnews.com
News No. 205/2009, November 19, 2009

Jumma women in Ghilachari enforced peaceful road blockade for the third consecutive day today without any untoward incidents.

Army personnel remained deployed all over the area, and in Kudukchari, which lies five kilometers south of Ghilachari on Rangamati–Khagrachari road, they have arrested two Jumma villagers from Halfchari market.

The army also ordered all the shops in Halfchari market, 8–10 in all and belonging to the Jummas, to be closed.

The arrested Jummas are Arabindu Chakma, 35, and Mulukya Chakma (34). They were taken to Kudukchari camp.

Last night the army raided a hostel of Kudukchari High School, searched the rooms and insulted its inmates.

In another incident, the army stopped Sumoti Chakma son of Shukro Kumar Chakma of Kabukchari village from entering Ghilachari bazaar at 2:15pm today. He was going to the market to buy some medicines.

Statement
The Ghilachari Committee for Guiding Movement Against Women Repression in a press statement yesterday said, “the rumour that the blockade enforcers had attacked students of Betchari Osmania High School is completely false, fabricated and baseless. There is not an iota of truth in it.”

It went on to say: “We think a corrupt element within the army spread this rumour to attain a certain objective, and it is to divert our movement by creating a Pahari-Bengali communal riot”

Solidarity demonstrations for Ghilachari uprising



chtnews.com
News No. 204/2009, November 18, 2009

Solidarity demonstrations for the just cause of the Ghilachari women have been held across Chittagong Hill Tracts and in Dhaka and Chittagong.

In Khagrachari, hundreds of people, mostly women, took to the streets today to protest against yesterday’s brutal army attack on the agitating Jumma women in Ghilachari who were enforcing a peaceful road blockade, demanding punishment of an army sex offender and withdrawal of Ghilachari army camp.

The demonstration was organised by Hill Women’s Federation, Hill Students’ Council and Democratic Youth Forum.

They brought out a procession from Upazila ground at 11am, proceeded to Khagrachari bazaar and then held a rally at Mukhta Mancha.

Chandani Chakma, Vice-president of HWF Khagrachari District unit; Subir Chakma, Organising Secretary of DYF Khagrachari District Unit and Apruchi Marma, General Secretary of PCP Khagrachari District unit addressed the rally.

The speakers condemned the unprovoked attack on the Jumma women in Ghilachari and demanded that the army personnel involved in the attack be punished.

They expressed solidarity with the movement of the Jumma women in Ghilachari and urged the government to concede to their just demands.

Solidarity meetings and demonstrations have also been held in Panchari, Dighinala, Mahalchari, Kaokhali in CHT and in Dhaka and Chittagong.

Sachib Chakma released again

chtnews.com
News No. 203/2009, November 18, 2009

UPDF leader Sachib Chakma has been released from Rangamati jail, party sources say.

A judicial magistrate ordered his release yesterday. Earlier he was granted bail in all the three cases filed against him.

But he was arrested again at the jail gate on 12 November under section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which gives the police arbitrary powers to arrest anyone on mere suspicion.

Sachib walked out of the jail at about 3pm today.

DYF members beaten by JSS Santu faction

chtnews.com
News No. 202/2009, November 18, 2009

As the Jumma women were putting up a brave fight against the army during their peaceful road block in Ghilachari yesterday, the pro-government JSS (Santu) beat up three members of the Democratic Youth Forum in Chittagong.

The DYF members came under attack of the JSS men at 10:30pm when they were putting up posters announcing the Hill Women’s Federation’s upcoming central council.

The council will be held from 20 – 23 November in Chittagong.

The JSS people were 15 – 16 in number and led by Bakul Chakma, Romel Chakma and Bhaskar Chakma.

The tortured DYF members have been identified as Dipu Chakma, 22, son of Kanchon Moni Chakma of village Barazhola Para, Matiranga; Polen Chakma, 28, son of Shanti Kumar Chakma of village Baghaihat, Sajek; and Tapan Chakma, 21, son of Adi Chandra Chakma of village Harubil, Panchari.

DYF General Secretary Mithun Chakma condemned the attack on his organisation’s members, and urged the JSS to come to senses, shun violence and join the struggle of the Jumma people for survival.

He said “the JSS should have supported the Ghilachari movement instead of killing, kidnapping and beating its own brethren.”

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Chittagong Hill Tracts: ‘Landgrabbing’ Must Stop

Chittagong Hill Tracts: ‘Landgrabbing’ Must Stop

Representatives of the Jumma people have put pressure on the Government to investigate what is seen by many as illegal, military-orchestrated settlement operations, depriving the indigenous population of their land.

Below are extracts from a letter on behalf of several NGOs to the Chief Adviser of the Interim Bangladeshi Government:

To:Dr. Fakruddin AhmedChief AdviserInterim Caretaker GovernmentPeople's Republic of Bangladesh
Subject: Concern at illegal and forcible occupation of land belonging to the Jumma people in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
Sir,
We are writing to express our deep concern over what appears to be planned and systematic campaign of the settlers and members of the Bangladesh military to grab lands belonging to the Jumma people in Chittagong Hill Tracts, especially in Dighinala Upazilla under Khagrachari district of the Chittagong Hill tracts (CHT).
We have come to know from various sources that Bangladesh militaries and Bengali settlers have been involved in human rights abuses on the indigenous Jumma people of the CHT. According to recent reports from various sources at least 222.38 acres of plough as well as hilly land have been forcibly taken away in Dighinala Upazilla under Khagrachari district during the last 2-3 months. Of these, 42 acres have been grabbed in Rengkarjya Mouza No. 28 under Merung, 149.18 acres in Choto Merung Mouza No. 29, 5.2 acres in Bara Merung Mouza No. 30 and 26 acres belonging to Boalkhali Buddha Vihara and Orphanage under Dighinala Thana.
To highlight the recent land grabbing pattern, I take the liberty of citing a few cases below:
a. Unsolicited arbitration by army: gross injustice
On 19 July 2007, Betchari sub-zone commander Major Qamrul Hassan (37 Bengal, 4 Bir) in Bara Merung called an unsolicited arbitration meeting in his camp and in a whimsical verbal judgment gave away 13 Kani (5.2 acres) of land belonging to three Jumma villagers to other three settler families namely Sirajul Islam, his brother Nazrul Islam s/o Kashem Ali and Md. Yunus s/o Abdul Mannan of Rashik Nagar village.
Of the 13 Kanis, 5 kanis each belongs to Sadhan Chakma s/o Bandara Chakma and Lalit Kumar Chakma s/o Ranga Mua Chakma, and 3 kanis to Bilati Chakma s/o Megh Raj Chakma.
The Jummas had been in the possession of these lands since the time of Pakistan and they did have valid documents pertaining to these lands and showed them during the so-called arbitration meeting. On the other hand, the settlers, who came to the area in the 1980s under government-sponsored transmigration programme, have failed to produce any valid papers. Yet, the commander assuming the roles of the judge, the jury and the land surveyor at one and the same time gave his judgment in fovour of the settlers.
b. Unsolicited arbitration: Supriya Chakma's land taken away
Mrs. Supriya Chakma is the head teacher of Boradam Government Primary School in Dighinala. She owns 3.2 acres of plough land in Betchatri of Merung. In July a so-called arbitration committee formed by Dighinala zone commander Major Qamrul Hassan gave her land to a settler woman, despite the fact that she had valid documents pertaining to the said land.
[…]
d. Fresh attempt at expansion of Bengali settlement in Sadhana Tila, Babuchara
According to sources, the army is making desperate attempt to settle 812 Bengali families on approximately 300 acres of land in Sadhana Tila under Babuchara in Dighinala Upazilla of Khagrachari district. The settlers have begun clearing the land since 13 August. The area houses a Buddhist temple and a sizable Jumma settlement. If the plan is implemented, the temple will be destroyed, many Jummas will be evicted and dispute over land will increase dramatically.
[…]
We want to believe that the recent land grab incidents have been committed without knowledge of the government and that your government does not support and tolerate such activities. In our opinion a vested interest group within the military establishment in CHT may have orchestrated those incidents knowing full well that they would cause disturbance and embarrass your government.
We are aware that since assumption of office on 12 January this year, your interim caretaker government has taken a number of courageous measures including reclamation of illegally occupied lands and canals. While we appreciate your government for bringing the land grabbers to justice, we regret to note that such measures are confined merely to the plain districts and that no such measures have been taken so far to reclaim the land of the Jumma people in CHT.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeastern corner of Bangladesh is home to eleven ethnic nationalities that have been living there for centuries. They have their own customs governing land use and management system which is often referred to as traditional land rights by which lands are owned by the whole community. The successive governments of Bangladesh have refused to acknowledge this right of the Jumma people and settled under a state-sponsored transmigration programme approximately 400,000 landless Bengali people on the lands of the Jumma people. This has had a devastating impact on the Jumma societies and became a perennial source of tension and conflict in CHT.
The government authorities of Bangladesh often cite CHT's low population density to justify its population transfer policy. However, studies showed that the argument advanced by the proponents of this policy that the CHT had been lying vacant is a myth. Suffice it to say that after the inundation of 54 thousand acres of first class cultivable land due to the construction of Kaptai dam in the 1960s, an estimated 40,000 Jummas had to cross over to India because there had not been enough land for their rehabilitation in CHT.
We, therefore, appeal to the interim caretaker government of Bangladesh to take bold steps to reverse the policy that the partisan governments of the past had pursued with regard to the CHT and acknowledge and respect the traditional land rights of the Jumma people.
We also urge your government to take the following measures in the interest of the people of the CHT:
a. To immediately stop illegal land grabbing in CHT including Merung, Boalkhali and various parts of Bandarban and return the illegally occupied lands to their rightful owners.
b. To cancel the plan to resettle illegal settlers in Sadhana Tila in Babuchara under Dighinala Thana of Khagrachari district;
c. To stop using the settlers as a tool of national oppression against Jumma people and to agree in principle to rehabilitate them in plain districts with means of livelihood;
d. To take legal actions against those army officers and settlers who would be found guilty of land grabbing and inciting communal tension;
e. To stop all kinds of repression and human rights violations in CHT;
f. To lift the state of “emergency” and to restore all political and civil rights of the citizen of Bangladesh; and
g. To withdraw all military camps from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in order to stop military terrorism against the Jumma people.
Sincerely,
On behalf of the following organizations
Jumma People's Network – Korea (JPNK)Imagination for International solidarity (IFIS)Palestine peace solidaritySecretary General, Buddhist solidarity for reform (BSR)Oh Kyungseok. Research Professor. Academy of Democratic Society and Policy.Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS)
Copy to:
Ministry of foreign affairs, Republic of Korea
Embassy of the united state of America
United Nations high commissioner for Human rights
Embassies of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional cooperation): India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives