Unidentified gunmen ambushed them in Betchhari area around 12:15pm, also leaving seven others injured. Tapan Jyoti Chakma, 50, alias Borma, President of UPDF (Democratic); Sujon Chakma, 28, General Secretary of Mohalchhari Unit Pahari Chhatra Parishad (PCP), and Pronok Chakma, 23, a member of Jubo Samiti, died on the spot. Setu Chakma, 30, another member of Jubo Samiti, and driver Md Sajib, 32, died on their way to hospital.
With Shaktiman and yesterday’s five, at least 17 people were killed in Khagrachhari and Rangamati over the last six months. Of them, nine were from UPDF, two from PCJSS-MN Larma, four from UPDF (Democratic), and one was a UPDF supporter. UPDF (Democratic) is a breakaway faction from the United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), a political party of hill people opposing the CHT Peace Accord of 1997. Shaktiman was a Vice President of PCJSS-MN Larma, a group which, according to sources, recently formed an alliance with the UPDF (Democratic).PCJSS-MN Larma came into being after Santu Larma-led Parbatya Chattogram Jana Sanhati Samiti (PCJSS), which had signed the peace accord with the government, split during the past caretaker rule in 2007-08. Following the killing of Shaktiman, his fellow activists said it was an act of the UPDF, an allegation the party has rejected.
Though the situation in the hills was relatively calm for the last three years following a “secret meeting” of UPDF and PCJSS, violence returned after the rise of the UPDF (Democratic), local political activists claim. On November 15, 2017, the faction announced its separation from UPDF at a press conference in Khagrachhari.
Conflicts continued between PCJSS and UPDF until the beginning of 2015, when a resolution was finally reached following the “secret meeting”. By this time, hundreds of activists had already been killed. Besides, during the last caretaker rule, PCJSS split and PCJSS-MN Larma established control over Khagrachhari district and three to four upazilas of Rangamati. Enmity ensued between the two factions.
Both UPDF and PJCSS have lost over 500 members due to conflicts arising due to the failure of the government to fully implement the Peace Accord. But the police have made no headway in gathering intelligence to figure out the reasons for the killings which have continued unabated since 2007. This can’t be expected of the police. As the Administrators of law and order they are supposed to make legitimate investigations to figure out the reasons for the murders.
But their continued inaction over the last ten years has emboldened factions within the various CHT groups to kill each other with impunity. This is a destructive road which will lead to continued violence in the CHT. It’s about time our security forces used modern forensic techniques coupled with intelligence gathering to find out the real killers. We don’t want the repeat of the arrests of BNP leaders behind the killings of Cesare Tavare–inaction then led ultimately to the Holey Artisan killings. There has to be a better way to figure out murders than arresting innocents and keeping them locked up until they can get bail.
But of course proper investigations are only a beginning. The root causes, and the main cause of discontent among the indigenous people of CHT, is the failure of the government to fully implement the Peace Accords, even though the government claims to have implemented 48 out of the 72 clauses. While the Bengali Muslim population was only around 2 percent in 1947, it is currently unofficially at around 65 percent. Such a massive increase speaks volumes about the massive land grabs which have taken place within these years. Unless these actions are corrected the Jumma people will become a minority in their own land–and this will continue to give rise to further conflicts.
