Bangladesh's rebel heartland

Tribal leaders want the army to withdraw

By Kaushik Das

The authorities in Bangladesh have yet to locate the whereabouts of two Danes and a Briton, thought to have been kidnapped by tribal rebels in the remote forests of south-eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Decades of mistrust and suspicion may resurface if the current situation is not taken account of by the authorities

Until now all attempts to hold a dialogue in order to release the hostages have failed.

Authorities have blamed the thickly forested hills as a hindrance in the process.

The area has been a safe hideout for the tribal rebels during the 22-year insurgency that ended, in theory, with a peace treaty in December 1997.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts region, an ethnically and linguistically diverse area, had been closed to the foreigners until about two years ago.

Even the Bangladeshi people were sceptical about visiting the area, rich in cultural background and surrounded by hills with scenic beauty.

Chakmas are the main tribes among 11 different tribal communities, with Marmas and Tripuras following them, each having their own identity in terms of language and culture.

Conflict and resolution?

The insurgents, led by the Chakmas, had fought mainly to preserve their individuality in the region, which the former rebel leader Shantu Larma had probably hoped to achieve by signing the treaty with the government.

Nearly 50,000 people returned to their homeland from the refugee camps in the north-east Indian state of Tripura, and at least 2,000 rebels surrendered their arms.

Another bone of contention had been the presence of the military forces in the region

But the conflict between the two sides over implementation of the treaty grew, and many believe the group opposing to it took advantage of the situation.

They were demanding full autonomy, even going to the extent of protesting in the presence of foreign diplomats and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when Shantu Larma surrendered his arms to her at a ceremony in early 1998.

In recent years there were alarming increases in criminal activities such as extortion of money, murder, and kidnapping local people in exchange of ransom.

However the authorities kept quiet about this. The two tribal groups had blamed each other for these incidents, but police could not solve any cases.

Dispute about troop withdrawal

Another bone of contention had been the presence of the military forces in the region.

They were deployed to tackle the insurgents, but have been made inactive since signing of the treaty.

The tribal leaders say the government has failed to keep the commitment to withdraw the army as well as the Bengali settlers who were taken there to, in their words, "suppress the tribe".

Observers feel that with the latest development in the region, the time has come for the government to seriously think of resolving the conflict with tribal leaders and make the peace treaty a useful instrument to avoid such incidents in the future.