The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Historical Exclusion, Demographic Transformation, and the Persistence of Political Grievance

Saurav Gupta

December 19, 2025

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) represent one of the most complex and enduring cases of ethnic marginalization and contested state integration in South Asia.

Located in southeastern Bangladesh and bordering India’s Tripuri and Mizoram states as well as Myanmar, the region is geographically isolated and culturally distinct from the Bengali plains. It is inhabited by more than a dozen indigenous communities—commonly grouped under the term Jumma peoples—including the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Mro, Bawm, and other Kuki-Chin groups. These communities possess unique linguistic, religious, and social traditions, as well as customary systems of land tenure that differ fundamentally from those of the surrounding lowlands. Despite this distinctiveness, the CHT has been subjected to sustained political neglect, demographic intervention, and militarized governance since the end of British colonial rule.

The origins of political discontent in the CHT can be traced to the Partition of India in 1947. At the time, the region had an overwhelming non-Muslim indigenous population, limited economic integration with East Bengal, and historical administrative separateness under the British. Nevertheless, the Radcliffe Award allocated the CHT to East Pakistan, a decision widely regarded as arbitrary and politically motivated. Contemporary records, petitions, and later scholarly analyses indicate that CHT leaders strongly opposed this outcome. Many sought to remain within India or, at minimum, demanded a special autonomous status that would protect indigenous customs and land rights. The symbolic hoisting of the Indian flag in Rangamati by tribal leaders following Partition underscored the depth of resistance to incorporation into Pakistan. The failure to address these objections established a foundational grievance that continues to shape indigenous political consciousness.

Following the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, indigenous communities initially expected redress under a new state born out of an anti-colonial and democratic struggle. These expectations were quickly disappointed. The Bangladeshi state adopted a unitary nationalist ideology centered on Bengali language and culture,

culminating in constitutional provisions that defined all citizens as “Bengali.” This framework denied recognition to indigenous peoples as distinct ethnic or national groups, effectively rendering them peripheral within the new polity. Moreover, the special administrative status that the CHT had enjoyed during the Pakistan period was dismantled, accelerating the region’s integration into centralized state structures.

This exclusion prompted organized political mobilization under the leadership of Manabendra Narayan Larma, the most prominent indigenous political figure in the post-1971 period. In 1972, Larma founded the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), which articulated demands for regional autonomy, constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples, and protection of customary land tenure systems. When these demands were rejected by successive governments, the PCJSS initiated an armed insurgency through its military wing, the Shanti Bahini. From the mid-1970s until the late 1990s, the CHT experienced low-intensity armed conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare, counterinsurgency operations, and widespread human rights violations.

Alongside military measures, the Bangladeshi state pursued a policy of demographic restructuring that fundamentally altered the social fabric of the CHT. Beginning in the late 1970s and intensifying during the 1980s, state-sponsored settlement programs relocated large numbers of landless Bengali Muslim populations from the plains into the hills. Settlers were provided with land, financial assistance, and security protection, often on land traditionally used by indigenous communities under customary tenure systems. These policies dramatically shifted the demographic balance of the region, reducing indigenous peoples from an overwhelming majority to a near minority in several districts.

Scholars and human rights organizations have widely interpreted this process as a form of demographic engineering aimed at consolidating state control and undermining indigenous claims to land and autonomy.

The consequences of settlement were profound. Indigenous communities faced large-scale land dispossession, erosion of traditional authority structures, and heightened communal tensions. Competition over land and resources frequently resulted in violence, displacement, and long-term insecurity. The presence of a dense military infrastructure further entrenched a climate of surveillance and control, restricting political activity and normal civic life.

The signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord in 1997 marked a formal end to the armed conflict. The Accord provided for the establishment of a Regional



Council and elected Hill District Councils, the creation of a Land Commission to resolve disputes, rehabilitation of displaced persons, and the gradual withdrawal of temporary military camps. While the agreement was internationally welcomed as a significant step toward peace, its implementation has been partial and inconsistent. Key provisions—particularly those relating to land restitution, institutional autonomy, and demilitarization—remain incomplete more than two decades later.

In the post-Accord period, the CHT has continued to experience political instability and episodic violence. Indigenous political actors are divided between signatories and non-signatories of the Accord, weakening collective bargaining power. Meanwhile, settlement continues, land disputes remain unresolved, and security forces retain a significant presence in the region. Development initiatives, where present, are often implemented without meaningful consultation with indigenous communities, reinforcing perceptions of exclusion rather than integration.

Historically, leaders of the CHT have employed multiple strategies to advance their political objectives, ranging from constitutional engagement and armed resistance to international advocacy. Early efforts to seek inclusion in India during the Partition era reflected a desire to align with a polity perceived as more capable of accommodating cultural pluralism. Subsequent struggles focused primarily on autonomy within existing state structures rather than outright secession. These shifting strategies underscore a persistent demand for political recognition, territorial security, and dignity rather than a singular ideological commitment.

In conclusion, the enduring challenges of the Chittagong Hill Tracts reflect broader tensions between postcolonial nation-state consolidation and the rights of

indigenous peoples. The region’s history of exclusion, demographic transformation, and incomplete political accommodation continues to undermine prospects for durable peace. Without substantive implementation of the Peace Accord, meaningful land reform, and genuine recognition of indigenous identity and self-governance, the CHT is likely to remain a site of unresolved conflict rather than successful integration within Bangladesh.

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