New conspiracies and unrest in Chittagong Hill Tracts

Eight people were killed in firing in Bandarban on Thursday night. But suddenly why the mountainous area is becoming unstable?

The mystery surrounding cookie-chinIn Bandarban, the Kuki-Chinese National Front or KNF has recently become the most talked about. The government of Bangladesh describes them as separatists.

Bangladesh Army also has a role in maintaining security in the districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts. According to the ISPR, “Mainly regional armed groups are engaging in one suicide conflict after another due to internal conflicts and hegemony. One of their main interests in this dominance is to benefit financially from various sources.

“In doing so, the general public and law enforcement personnel are sometimes victims of their own infighting,” says the ISPR.

ISPR said it has learned from local sources that the eight killings in Bandarban on Thursday were the result of clashes between the KNA and the UPDF.

“Bangladesh Army in coordination with local administration and law enforcement forces is carrying out its duties to maintain regional peace and stability,” ISPR said.

According to KNF announcements and media statements at various times, they represent at least six ethnic minorities of Bandarban and Rangamati. However, many people are also promoting them as a group. Their military wing is the Kuki-Chin National Army or KNAF.

Major (retd) Emdadul Islam, an observer and security analyst in the highlands, told BBC Bangla, “The fact that these kuki-chins got weapons and training and suddenly got into a conflict is still a mystery.”

Analyzing the reasons behind the unrest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, it is known that when the peace agreement was signed in 1997, there were many small groups in the hills and groups like the Kuki-Chin did not gain much importance. Their demands were not clear. But recently groups like Kuki-chin have become active quite suddenly.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Citizens Parishad say, “Kuki-chin came out openly with arms without any demands, agitations and struggles. Along with that, they have a connection with the militants. They got weapons, got training. After knowing these, the issue of Kuchi-Chin came to light. As the members of this group have presence in Rowanchari region, they are also known to have presence in Mizoram, India. This is not the first time such clashes have occurred in Bandarban or hilly districtsIn November last year, an officer of squadron leader rank, who was attached to the Directorate of Military Defense Intelligence or DGFI, was killed in an encounter along the Tambru border. At that time, an officer of RAB, the special force of the police, was also injured.

In March last year, four people were killed in firing in Ruma area of ​​Bandarban. Earlier in the month, four people, including a soldier, were killed in a ‘JSS attack’ on an army patrol.

Bangladesh authorities had announced the start of a joint operation against militants and separatists in remote areas of Bandarban since October last year. That special operation was started in Ruma and Rowanchari areas. At that time, tourist travel in the area was also banned, which is still in force. Not only Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari have witnessed several such clashes and casualties over the past few years.

Although Bandarban has seen relatively few incidents of violence, the surrounding areas of the district have always been prone to violence. Just across the border is the Arakan Army, a trend of Kachin rebels, and separatists in Mizoram.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Citizens Parishad fears that the Kuki-Chin group may have been affected because of them.

Journalists in Rangamati and Bandarban, quoting local residents, said that the UPDF Democratic Forces were involved in the latest clashes.

Geopolitics, subscriptions and hegemony conflicts

The groups that are active in the hill areas under different names are more concerned with dominance and distribution of revenue than ideological conflicts. Conflicts often occur in order to maintain control.

A human rights activist in the Chittagong Hill Tracts says, “There is no ideological conflict.” The main issue is dominance and extortion. As I have seen, various groups extort more than 700 crore rupees annually. More violence is happening to control this unrestrained extortion.

He says, “Chittagong Hill Tracts have been tried to be developed as a buffer zone many times from different quarters. As a result, different quarters, different countries have supported the armed groups in this area due to geopolitical reasons.”

There have been several incidents of violence in the hill districts in the last few months. “I feel that there is an attempt to destabilize the area by some quarters, whether national or international,” he said. Lately there has been more violence, not that it didn’t happen in the past, but because of the army it was reduced a lot. Those who don’t like it, they are trying to rise again. Analysts and local public representatives think that the continued violence may have a negative impact on the hilly areas.

The violence is affecting every sector including trade, tourism, agriculture in the hilly areas. If this situation is prolonged, the economic activities of that region may be limited. At the same time, many people fear that the tourism business will decrease and the work on the border road, which was going on, may also come to a standstill.

Many parties, many groups in the mountains

In 1997, when the Chittagong Hill Tracts People’s Solidarity Association signed a peace agreement with the Bangladesh government, the UPDF publicly opposed it. Many analysts say that some parties did not want the implementation of the agreement if peace returned to the hilly areas as a result of that agreement.

He did not want to say clearly who these circles are.

“We can see that peace should be established in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, one section is not able to accept it. They think, then the supremacy they have here will be undermined. That is why KNF was created, today that KNF is the cause of unrest.

Land disputes of hilly Bengalis in three hilly districts of Bangladesh: Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari.

In 2017, UPDF broke up and formed a new party called UPDF-Gontantrik. On the other hand, another party named JSS (MN Larma) was formed after breaking the Jana Sanhati Samiti.

Conflicts between these four groups continue in the hilly areas. Hundreds of people have been killed in the clashes between these groups in the last five years.

According to the opinion of the leaders of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Citizens Parishad, the government should immediately ensure the safety of the people’s lives and national sovereignty by increasing the military force by continuing the operations of the joint forces to suppress the seditionists who are creating a turbulent environment