CHT

 The Chittagong Hill Tracts comprise an area of 13,295 km2 in southeastern Bangladesh and border India and Myanmar (Burma). They formed a single district of Bangladesh until 1984, when they were divided into three districts: Khagrachari, Rangamati, and Bandarban. Topographically, the Chittagong Hill Tracts are the only very hilly area in Bangladesh. With Ladakh, Sikkim, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, they constitute one of the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia.

In 1900 British summary was talking population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts 93% are Jumma( Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Tanchangya, Chak, Pakho, Mru, Murung, Bawm, kushai, Khyang, Gurkha, Assamese, Santal and Khumi) and 7% of Parbatya Bangali.

According to the census of 1991, the population was 974,447, of which 501,114 were tribal peoples and the rest were from other communities. The tribal peoples, collectively known as the Jumma, include the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Tanchangya, Chak, Pankho, Mru, Murung, Bawm, Lushai, Khyang, Gurkha, Assamese, Santal, and Khumi and a large number of Parbatya Bangali .

The population of the three districts (zilas) totaled 1,587,000 in the provisional returns of the census of 2011. About 50% of the populations are tribal peoples and mainly followers of Theravada Buddhism; 49% of the inhabitants are Parbatya Bangali Muslims and Hindus; the remainders are Christians, or animists.

The early history of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Hilly Bengal), a record of constantly recurring raids on the part of the eastern hill tribes and of the operations undertaken to repress them, of which narrative will be found in the article on the Lushai Hills. The earliest mention of these raids is found in a letter from the chief of Chittagong to Warren Hastings, the governor-general, dated April 1777, complaining of the violence and aggressions of a mountaineer, the leader named Ramu Khan of a band of Kukis or Lushais. These raids continued without any long intermission until 1891, when the Lushai Hills were annexed to British territory. The recorded population increased from 69,607 in 1872 to 101,597 in 1881, to 107,286 in 1891, and to 124,762 in 1901. The Census of 1872 was, however, very imperfect, and the actual growth of population has probably not exceeded what might be expected in a sparsely inhabited but fairly healthy tract.

When the 1901 census was taken there were no towns, and 211 of the villages had populations of less than 500 apiece; only one exceeded 2,000. The population density, excluding the area of uninhabited forest (1,385 square miles), was 33 persons per square mile. There was a little immigration from Chittagong, and a few persons had emigrated to Tripura. The proportion of females to every 100 males was only 90 in the district-born, and 83 in the total population. Buddhists numbered 83,000, Hindus 36,000, and Muslims 5,000.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (Hilly Bengal), combining three hilly districts of Bangladesh, were once known as Korpos Mohol, the name used until 1860. In 1860 it was annexed by the British and was made an administrative district of Bengal. As of today, it is a semi-autonomous region within Bangladesh comprising the districts Chengmi (Khagrachari District), Gongkabor (Rangamati District), and Arvumi (Bandarban District).

The last viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, who considered the grant of independence to India as his act of crowning glory, was ambitious to achieve this "superhuman" task in record time. He said that before accepting the post of viceroy he had told King George VI, who was his cousin: "I am prepared to accept the job only on one condition. India must be granted independence by July, 1948 and I will not stay there a day longer". Mountbatten came to India in March, 1947 and this left him just about sixteen months to complete such a gigantic task. In reality, he achieved it in five months, on 15 August 1947 for which he was given so much credit.

Originally, the award of the Boundary Commission was to be made public on 13 August. But Mountbatten was reluctant to make this public. According to Philip Ziegler, the author of Mountbatten's official biography, the case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts was uppermost in Mountbatten's mind. Mountbatten "foresaw an Independence Day marred by rancor, Nehru boycotting the ceremonies, India born in an atmosphere not of euphoria but of angry resentment." So Mountbatten decided to announce the award only on 16 August when the celebrations were over. As Zeigler writes, "India's indignation at the award of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to Pakistan may have been a factor in making up Mountbatten's mind to keep the reports to him till after independence".

Mountbatten was himself surprised by the ferocity of Sardar Patel's reaction to the issue. In his memoirs he wrote: "The one man I had regarded as a real statesman with both his feet firmly on the ground, and a man of honor whose word was his bond, had turned out to be as hysterical as the rest. Candidly I was amazed that such a terrific crisis should have blown up over so small a matter. However, I have been long enough in India to realize that major crises are by no means confined to big matters." Leonard Mosley in his book The Last Days of the British Raj puts it "This is a matter for Mountbatten's conscience.


During the 1970s and 80s, there were attempts by the government to resettle the area with Bengali people. These attempts were resisted by the tribal’s, who, with the latent support of neighboring India, formed a guerilla force called Shanti Bahini. As a result of the tribal resistance movement, successive governments turned the Hill Tracts into a militarized zone. Professor Bernard Nietschmann wrote a letter about Shanti Bahini and the Chittagong Hill Tracts people to the editor of the New York Times published on October 25, 1986.

Following years of unrest, an agreement was formed between the government of Bangladesh and the tribal leaders which granted a limited level of autonomy to the elected council of the three hill districts

The 1997 Peace Treaty signed between the then Sheikh Hasina Government and the Jana Shanghati Shamiti or Shanti Bahini has been opposed by the opposition parties as well as a fraction of the tribal rebels. Opposition parties argued that the autonomy granted in the treaty ignored the Bengali settlers. The successive Khaleda Zia government promised to implement the peace treaty, despite their opposition to it during the previous government's term. According to the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, a peace treaty between the government of Bangladesh and Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti was signed on 2 December 1997. However, Shanti Bahini rebels kept on committing killings and harassing the Bengali people living in the area. There are many accusations that they get financial help from a foreign country to fight for their freedom.

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Chittagong Hill Tracts