| |
Bangladesh was liberated on 16 December 1971 after nine months of war through the
surrender of the Pakistan army. The Jumma people due to the Chakma Raja's opposition
to the Bangladeshi cause were in general viewed as backers of the
Pakistan army. The wrath of the Mukti Bahini (Freedom Fighters of Bangladesh)
therefore fell on the Jumma people. On 5 December 1971 sixteen Jumma people were massacred by
the Mukti Bahini at Panchari. Another 18 were killed at Dighinala.
On 14 December 1971, the Mukti Bahini
killed 22 Jumma people and burned 200 houses at Kukichara.
In fact violence continued in the CHT through the entire month of
December. It was only after the intervention of the Tibetan and Indian armies,
the violence against the Jumma civilians was stopped.
The Mong Chief who in contrast to other two chiefs supported the
Bangladeshi cause of the liberation war, appealed to
the Bangladesh government to put an end to these atrocities. But the
Bengali nationalist government not only failed to respond positively.
It even denied recognition to the contributions of those Jumma men
who had joined the war. Thus Rono Bikram Tripura and Asok Mitra
Karbari, two prominent freedom fighters from the CHT were not awarded the
national gallantry award, though their names were recommended by
the zonal commander.
On 29 January 1972 a
seven member delegation from the CHT under the leadership of
Charoo Bikash Chakma (a local Awami league leader) met Sheikh
Mujib and apprised him of the situation. The Bengali nationalist
leader however dismissed them with the plea that such incidents are
natural after a war. The Jumma people however could not accept this
violence upon them by the Bangladeshi freedom fighters as something
natural. They therefore decided to take the situation into their own
hands. The Jumma youths recovered the arms left behind by the Pakistan
forces in the jungles of the CHT and not only resisted the Bangladeshis
but also set up an administrative system for the villages. This earned
them the name of Shanti Bahini (Peace Forces).
The new state moved ahead with the formulation of its
Constitution. In light of their past experiences of exploitation and
deep mistrust for the Bangladeshis the Jumma people felt it necessary to
have constitutional safeguards for their protection as a separate
conimunity. On 15 February 1972, a Jumma people's delegation led by
Manobendra Narayan Larma (Larma, the elected member to the Bangladesh Parliament
from the CHT) called on
Sheikh Mujib and placed the following demands:
- Autonomy for the CHT with its own legislature;
- Retention of the 1900 CHT Manual in the Constitution of Bangladesh;
- Continuation of tribal chiefs offices;
- Constitutional provisions restricting the amendment of the
Manual. and imposition of a ban on the influx of non-tribal
people into the CHT.
The above demands were unacceptable to Sheikh Mujib. He
insisted that there could be only one 'nation' in Bangladesh. He
therefore asked the Jumma people to forget about their separate identity
and to become Bengalis. He further threatened to turn them into
minorities by sending Bengalis into the CHT. This was unacceptable
to Larma who by then had
emerged as the champion of the Jumma people's cause. He accordingly
formed a political platform, the Parbattya Chattagram Jana
Samhati Samiti (PCJSS, The United People's Party of CHT) on
March 7 1972. Later on an armed wing, the Shanti Bahini
(Peace Forces) was added to it. The seeds of Jumma
nationalism had been sown. Jinnah, through his attempt to
impose the Urdu language upon the Bengalis of East Pakistan had sown the seeds of
Bengali nationalism. Likewise, Mujib, through his refusal to accept
the Jumma people as a separate community distinct from the Bengalis
had sown the seeds of Jumma nationalism. The demands were
interpreted as secessionist and immediately military operations by
the Bangladesh army, air-force, and police were carried out.
Sources:
- The Politics of Nationalism: by Amena Mohsin
|