At least three indigenous people have been killed since Wednesday and dozens more injured in violent clashes between indigenous communities and “Bengali settlers” in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of southeastern Bangladesh.
The escalating violence prompted local authorities on Friday to impose Section 144 indefinitely, a legal provision that restricts gatherings.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts long been a flashpoint for ethnic tensions between the Pahari tribal communities and “Bengali settlers”.
The indigenous people seek greater representation in national politics and the protection of their rights, while Bengali “settlers”, who migrated to the region in the mid-20th century, have gradually become the dominant demographic group.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts comprise three districts – Khagrachhari, Rangamati, and Bandarban – with a population of 1,842,815, according to the national census of 2022. Of this population, 920,248 are tribal people, while the rest are widely regarded as “Bengali settlers”.
“From 1979 to 1983, then President General Ziaur Rahman had implanted about 500,000 illegal Muslim plain settlers to reduce the indigenous population of the CHTs into a minority on their own land,” claimed Suhas Chakma, director of the Rights and Risks Analysis Group rights group based in New Delhi. “The illegal plain settlers now constitute more than 50% of the total population in the CHTs.”
Wednesday’s erupted after tensions flared between the two groups in Khagrachhari, leading to arson attacks and deadly confrontations.
“Please save us, Bengali settlers are burning our homes, we are on the streets with nothing left,” a distraught woman pleaded in a Facebook live video on Thursday evening. Her live feed showed thick smoke rising into the air and hundreds of people on the streets, carrying bags, who fled their homes in search of safety.
The unrest began after a Bengali man, Mohammed Mamun, was beaten to death by a mob lynching in Khagrachhari town on Wednesday morning, reportedly over allegations of motorcycle theft.
The death sparked a retaliatory procession led by Bengali “settlers” in the Dighinala sub-district of Khagrachhari, where inflammatory speeches were made. Witnesses reported heavy gunfire in the Narankhaiya area around 10.30 pm.
The Bangladesh military press wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, reported said that members of the United People’s Democratic Front, a group representing the region’s Chakma ethnic majority, “attacked the mourners and fired 20-30 gunshots”.
Soon after, a mosque’s loudspeaker broadcast a message that “settlers” were under attack by indigenous people, inciting a larger crowd to attack Indigenous homes and businesses.
According to a military statement, at least 30 houses and businesses were set on fire in Khagrachhari’s Dighinala area on Thursday, though the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities claimed that the number was in the hundreds.
The military statent said that violence continued into the night as an army patrol team came under fire from the United People’s Democratic Front “rebels” in Khagrachhari’s Swanirvor area.
The army, which was escorting a patient at the time, was attacked and responded with gunfire. Three people were killed in the incident. “The UPDF terrorists opened fire on the army, compelling them to retaliate in self-defence,” the statement said.
Suhas Chakma, director of the Rights and Risks Analysis Group rights group, claimed that the Bangladesh Army failed to intervene in the situation and instead provided support to the “settlers” in carrying out arson.
“Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, lawlessness prevailed in the country,” Suhas Chakma said in a statement. “Chief Advisor Mohammed Yunus [who heads the country’s interim government] authorised the Bangladesh Army with magisterial power on September 17 but the same Bangladesh Army supported the burning down of the Chakma shops and houses at Dighinala Sadar today.”
The military press wing warned the risk of “terrible riots in three hill districts”.
Local temple officials also reported attacks on Buddhist religious sites. Tritimoy Chakma, a member of the Maitri Bihar temple management committee in Rangamati, confirmed the temple had been looted. “It was chaos,” he said.
Demonstrations were also held in the capital, Dhaka, where hundreds of indigenous people, along with students and plainland supporters, blocked the prominent Shahbagh intersection on Friday, protesting the arson attacks in Khagrachhari’s Dighinala the day before.
The protesters demanded justice for the attackers and called for accountability.
Placards carried messages such as “Save the hills and our culture”, “Stop land grabbing”, “Stop militarisation in CHT,” and “Implement the CHT Accord.”
The protesters called for an international investigation into past incidents of human rights violations against the ethnic minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
In a statement released on Friday, the interim government, which came to power after the popular uprising that ousted Sheikh Hasina early in August, expressed deep concern over the violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and called for calm.
“The government is deeply saddened by the ongoing assaults, attacks, and loss of life,” read the statement from the chief adviser’s press office.
The government announced that a high-level investigation committee would soon be formed to investigate all incidents of violence in Khagrachhari and Rangamati.
“The people responsible for the violence will be brought to justice,” the statement added.
Mehedi Hasan Marof is a Bangladeshi journalist who covers politics, environment and social changes. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @mehedimarof or visit mehedimarof.com.