Thirteen Chakma organisations in Mizoram, including political parties, sent a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi, urging his intervention to halt recent attacks on indigenous ethnic minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh.
Chakmas share ties of ethnicity and kinship with such groups in the neighbouring country. The organisations highlighted the atrocities in CHT, alleging at least nine people were killed, many wounded and hundreds left homeless following attacks by illegal settlers who were backed by army personnel on Sept 19.
The attacks also resulted in the destruction of over 100 houses and Buddhist temples, forcing many people to take refuge in nearby forests.
According to the memorandum, these attacks came in the wake of the Bangladesh interim govt’s decision to grant magisterial and policing powers to the army.
The Chakma groups expressed shock that such violence occurred under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus, who is known for advocating upliftment of vulnerable communities.
The attacks were reportedly a response to a peaceful “March for Identity” which took place on Sept 18 in CHT, during which a total of 40,000 indigenous people called for constitutional recognition of their rights and full implementation of a 1997 peace accord.
The memorandum cited demographic changes due to the settlement of 500,000 illegal Muslims between 1979 and 1983, which left the indigenous population marginalised. It also drew attention towards the historical injustices that were suffered by minorities who were non-Muslim in the region since the partition took place.
