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The Causes and Factors of the Indigenous Groups in Bangladesh: The Ethnic Groups from Chittagong Hill
Bangladesh is a very poor and small country. It is overpopulated and is suffering from many economical problems. The country’s education rate is not so high neither is it’s education system can equate to the rest of the world. The country gained its independence in 1971 from Pakistan and became an independent nation called Bangladesh. The country used to be part of the Indian Subcontinent up until 1947 when the British government partitioned India “Hindustan” based on religious demographic. It was divided into Republic of India and Islamic Republic of Pakistan in 1947. Later, because of the language difference, East Pakistan and West Pakistan were divided and Bangladesh received its independence on December 16, 1971. Ever since the country has gained its independence, there have always been many problems in terms of its political powers. With the many economical, political and hunger problems, there has also been another problem for the last tow decades. For the past two decades there has been an enormous increases in the number of internally displaced people in Bangladesh. The people who are displaced are usually located in the Chittagong Hill of Bangladesh. They are often forced not to move away from where they were placed to stay. And these people though coming from a background of Bangladesh are often not given the human rights that they deserve.

The Chittagong Hill lies in the southern part of Bangladesh, in which there are twelve ethnic communities. The Bengali people call them Pahari. The ethnic people of the hill call the Bengalis living in Chittagong either as Settlers or Non-Settlers. According to Shouawardi 1995:38,  Dewan 1990, Mohsin 1991, during  the independence of India in 1947, only 9% of the population in Chittagong was Bengali. The rest were all the people living up in the hills of Chittagong. Once the settlers started to settle in the cities of Chittagong and started to make it more commercialized and populations started to increases, it was very easy to distinguish the ethnic groups and easily refer to them as the “other”. The local ethnic groups soon became a distinguished group, which became an attraction to many tourists.

The Bengalis and the people in Chittagong are not similar. The displacement in Chittagong Hill started due to some major changes and developments in the hill. Some developments by the government, such as Paper Mill project in 1953, Kaptai Hydro Electric Dam in 1960, Satellite Centre etc. caused displacement f the hill people. The Dam Project especially displaced approximately 100,000 people. A large number of the ethnic group also migrated to India where they are staying as refugee.

In addition to these factors, the conflict between the Bangladeshi military and the army of these ethnic groups known as “Shanti Bahani” also caused displacements of many ethnic groups to may other places.

The Bangladeshi government has signed a Peace Treaty with the committee of the ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill, known as Parbarta Chattgram Jana Sanghati Samity ( PCJSS) on December 2, 1997. Many of the Bengalis who were going to these ethnic areas, were either kidnapped or killed by the ethnic groups because the ethnic groups consider them as foreigners. The ongoing conflict between the ethnic groups who has been in the border of Chittagong for years and the Bengalis has been an issue ever since the independence of Bangladesh. And even after the Peace Treaty, there is still battles going on and neither group is giving the other groups the privilege of being over that area.

ReferenceItalic text

Adnan, S (2004) Migration, Land Alienation and Ethnic Conflict, Research and advisory Services,  Dhaka.

The Effects of Nationalism : The Case of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Unpublished M.A term Paper, Spring, Social Anthropology, University of Sussex.

'Santal Adibasider matrivasai prathomic School Kormoshuchi Proshonghe' in Mesbah Kamal and Arifatul Kibria Edited ' Viponno Vumijo,  Resaerch and Development Collective, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Hunchinson, R.H.S (1906) An Account of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat, Book Depot.

Mohsin, A (1997)Bold textPolitics of Nationalism, University Press Limited, Dhaka.