Part 1

The Geophysical and Demographic Setting

Geography of the Chittagong Hill Tracts

The Chittagong Hill Tracts are comprised of three hill districts—Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachari. The region lies in the southeastern part of Bangladesh and occupies a physical area of 5,093 square miles, constituting 10 percent of the total land area of Bangladesh. It is situated between 21^o 25' and 23^o 45' north latitude, and between 91^o 45' and 92^o 50' east longitude. It is surrounded by the Indian states of Tripura on the north and Mizoram on the east, by Myanmar on the south and east and the Chittagong district on the west. The terrain in the CHT is part of the great hill mass—an offshoot of the Himalayan range—occupying parts of India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. The hills inside Bangladesh rise up to a maximum of 4,000 feet, with the ranges running generally northwest to southeast and dividing the area into a number of large valleys. The valleys are covered for the most part with dense virgin forest, interspersed with small waterways and swamps of all sizes and description. [3] The districts comprise seven valleys formed by the Feni, Karnafuli, Chengi, Myani, Kassalong, Sangu, and Matamuhuri rivers and their tributaries. There are numerous hills, ravines, and cliffs covered with dense vegetation. Geographically the CHT can be divided into two broad ecological zones: hilly valleys and agricultural plains. The CHT is a unique territory of Bangladesh with mountains and beautiful landscapes in stark contrast to the alluvial, monsoon-flooded plains of the rest of Bangladesh.

The Population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts

In the hills of the CHT, it is not only the landscapes that are dramatically different from the plains, but the original inhabitants are also strikingly different from the overwhelming majority of Bengali people.

The total population of the CHT, as per the 1991 census, was approximately 974,000. Out of this number, hill people constituted 500,000 and the Bengalis 470,000.

Hill People or Tribal People 

The thirteen ethnic groups living in the CHT region are of Sino-Tibetan descent belonging to Mongolian groups. There are diversities amongst the ethnic groups themselves, which have their own distinct languages, customs, religious beliefs, and systems of sociopolitical organization. They even choose to live in different habitats. The Chakmas, Marmas, and Tripura live in valleys. The Khumi, Murang, Lushai, Bawm, Pankhu, Kuki, Khyang, Tanchangya, Chak, and Riang live on hill ridges. Among the hill people in the CHT, the Chakmas are the most dominant and largest group, comprising about 30 percent; they are Buddhists. The Marmas, the second largest, comprising about twenty percent of the CHT population, are also Buddhists. The third largest—the Tripuras—are Hindus. The rest of the tribal people—the Lushai, Pankhu and Bawm—are Christians. There are minority groups who are animists or followers of variations of various religions.

The Chakmas speak a dialect close to "Chittagonian," a dialect that is spoken by the local people of Chittagong, which is a deviation of the Bangla language. They also have a script resembling Burmese, but they seldom use the script. The Marmas speak and write using a dialect close to Burmese. The Tripura speak a version of Tripura dialect as spoken in the Indian province of Tripura and written in Bangla script. The remaining minority groups have their own dialects, but most do not have a script.  Significantly, Bangla, the state language of Bangladesh, is the lingua franca for inter-tribal communication and is understood by most tribes. Thus, ethnicity has had a significant impact on these groups. They share a common trait in that they are non-Bengali. However, they have many differences that have affected their level of development and access to resources. Moreover, these differences have prevented them from speaking in one voice, with the other ethnic groups at times unwilling to accept the dominance of the Chakmas.

Bengalis or Plainsmen

The Bengalis are of mixed Proto-Australoid and Caucasoid origin. The early Bengali settlement in the CHT took place during the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and the first half of the twentieth centuries for various reasons. Settlers were basically farm laborers, small businessmen, fishermen, etc. However, subsequent settlement of Bengalis during the Pakistan and Bangladesh periods was large enough to give rise to resentment and hostility.

During the mid-eighteenth century, Bengali cultivators were settled in the region to work on the rajah's land and to teach lowland farming to the Chakmas in general. During the nineteenth century only tribal chiefs were permitted to own land and the Bengali immigrants became sharecroppers. [4] It was only later that some of the immigrants purchased land. Nevertheless, the Bengali population in the CHT remained small, and at the time of the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, it amounted to only about 2 percent. But after the partition the Bengali population began to rise. Since the independence of Bangladesh, Bengali settlement in the CHT has increased rapidly. The Bengalis now account for nearly half of the CHT population. This has given rise to allegations of displacement and usurpation of land.

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