Of course, the Hill Tracts region, which stretches along the eastern border of Bangladesh with India isn’t primitive or treacherous at all, nor is it especially dangerous. But there is relatively little known about the area because for over twenty years until 1998, the Bangladeshi army was fighting against the indigenous communities who live there, as they had chosen guerrilla warfare as a means of trying to safeguard their land and their culture against the incoming Bengali mainstream communities. The main problem for the indigenous people of Bangladesh, they say to me, is that the Bangladeshi constitution affirms the rights of all people as Bangladeshi citizens, and doesn’t make any distinction for people who want to remain in Bangladesh – which is their home – but wouldn’t define themselves as Bengali.
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Following the expulsion of the Secretary General of Bangladesh National Party (BNP), Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Joint Secretary General Ashraf Hossain from the party for their alleged attempts to “split the party” by BNP Supremo Begum Khaleda Zia on 2 September 2007, the military backed care-taker government struck back. On 3 September 2007, Khaleda Zia was arrested along with her younger son, Arafat Rahman Koko on alleged corruption charges. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) charged them of corruption and abuse of power for allegedly using their influence to award tender to Global Agro Trade (Private) Company Ltd for container handling at the Dhaka Inland Container Depot and the Chittagong Port Inland Container Depot although it allegedly lacked required experience and skills. Khaleda Zia has been denied bail and sent to jail.
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The illegal plain settlers have pulled down and smashed the signboard of Sadhana Tila Bana Vihara (temple), a recognised branch of Rangamati Raj Bana Vihara run by the Reverend Bana Bhate.

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Jumma peoples Network-Japan,an organization of the exiled jumma People from Bangaladesh who live in the Chittagong hill tracts (CHT) region,had submitted an appeal to the interim Caretaker Government of Bangladeshd at the Embassy of Bangladesh on 31 August, 2007. The appeal was regarding to stop a recent move by the members of the Bangladesh security forces to settle non-Indigenous Bengali Muslim settlers in several parts of CHT after forcibly grabbing the land of the Indigenous Jumma Peoples. It also demanded seven others point including an end of Human Rights violation on the Jumma Peoples. Three representatives from the Jumma peoples and a numbers of Japanese activist representating various organizations had attended during the submission of the appeal. Mr. Majibur Rahman, an honorable representative from the Embassy had accpted the appeal and promised to reach the appeal to the Bangladesh Government

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TAKING advantage of the state of emergency now in force in Bangladesh, the military deployed in Chittagong Hill Tracts has launched a fresh drive to resettle the illegal Bengali settlers on Jumma people's land in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The army officers are actively taking part in the illegal land grabbing spree. The pattern is same: most often they incite the settlers to grab Jumma's land by force; and in other times they take away the land belonging to the Jumma people in arbitration meetings arbitrarily held by them and then give it to the settlers with total disregard for the laws of the land. In either case, the army provides protection to the illegal Bengali settlers.

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The present military-backed Caretaker Government of Bangladesh of Dr. Fakruddin Ahmed imposes the State of Emergency in the country amid conflict political situation on 12 January 2007. Under the state of emergency, the Joint Forces led by military forces are conducting drive against the corrupt politicians, businessmen and godfathers. As part of this drive, a few godfathers and corrupt leaders of last four-party alliance government have been arrested in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). However the military forces have been using the state of emergency with a different motive in case of indigenous peoples in CHT. Basically it has been used to suppress the voice of indigenous Jumma people of CHT.

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In a major development, Chief of Bangladesh Army and de facto ruler of the country, General Moeen U Ahmed visited Dighinala of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) yesterday i.e. 28 August 2007. While nothing has been made public nor reported in the press in Bangladesh, the visit is significant considering that the government of Bangladesh has intensified the settlement of illegal plain settlers into the CHTs and repression on the indigenous Jumma activists.

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We, Buddhist monks from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, studying in various universities and educational institutions in Sri Lanka are deeply concerned over the continuous land grabbing and human rights violations on our people by the government of Bangladesh. Our people, religion and culture have been threatened. With deep sorrow we would like to bring to your kind notice the serious human rights abuses on the minority indigenous communities in the CHTs.

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