How Bangladesh’s provocative military strategy fuelled unrest in its hill tracts

The Bangladesh government’s military strategy appears to be at the heart of the recent tribal unrest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and the country’s growing tensions with Myanmar’s Arakan Army, a powerful insurgent group.

Also read | What’s behind Yunus’ anti-India tirade? Fear of Awami revival, power goals

Since the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed office in August last year, there has been a surge in armed repression under the guise of counter-insurgency operations in the hill tracts, where over 40 per cent of the population comprises tribal communities.

Ethnic tensions reignite violence

Communal violence gripped Khagrachari and Rangamati, two of the three CHT districts, merely a month after the interim government took charge. Since then, the region has been plagued by intermittent unrest, along with ongoing suppression and systemic discrimination.

According to the Kapaeeng Foundation, a human rights organisation advocating for the indigenous people of Bangladesh, 21 out of 24 cases of violence against women from ethnic minority communities between January and July this year were reported from the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

The latest flare-up was also sparked by the reported gangrape of a 12-year-old Marma schoolgirl in the Singinala area of Khagrachhari district.

Violence broke out in late September when non-tribal groups, allegedly backed by the Bangladesh Army and other security agencies, attacked tribal demonstrators who were enforcing a road blockade under the banner of Jumma Chatra Janata (Indigenous Students and People), a platform primarily composed of tribal youth demanding justice for the victim.

At least three people were killed and at least 16 others were injured in the clashes that ensued. Over 80 shops and houses were gutted.

Indigenous voices allege persecution

The violence followed a longstanding pattern in which demands of the indigenous communities for justice and rights are often met with violent suppression, not only by state forces, but also by non-tribal settlers, whose growing presence has steadily changed the region’s demographic composition.

“On September 28, the Bangladesh Army personnel shot dead at least four tribal people and injured over 40 others in indiscriminate firing. Subsequently, it allowed the illegal Muslim settlers to burn down tribal houses at Guimara area under Khagrachari district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Bangladeshi media reported three deaths, but that is far from the truth,” claimed the Global Association for Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (GAIPCHT) in a press statement.

“A similar organised massacre of indigenous people took place on September 19-20, 2024, at Dighinala, Khagrachari and Rangamati, in which four indigenous persons were killed and 75 others were injured. The Bangladesh Army personnel and the illegal Muslim settlers had organised the massacre. The government of Bangladesh formed a one-man inquiry commission headed by the Additional Divisional Commissioner of the Chittagong Division to complete the probe within two weeks, but its report has not been made public as yet to provide impunity to the perpetrators,” the GAIPCHT further alleged.

Human rights groups allege atrocities

Several human rights organisations have criticised the Yunus-led interim government for its failure to safeguard indigenous communities in the CHT. Reports by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) and others indicate a rise in human rights violations against indigenous people, carried out with apparent impunity under the current administration.

The Yunus-led government responded to criticism with blanket denials and blame-shifting. In the wake of the recent unrest, the interim government’s home affairs adviser, Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, accused India of stoking tensions in the CHT, an allegation that New Delhi has vehemently denied.

Also read | Yunus says Bangladesh has problems with India over hosting Hasina

Bangladesh’s allegation appears to stem from reports that some tribal protesters allegedly called for integrating the Chittagong Hill Tracts with India, citing deep cultural and ethnic ties across the border, and from the reported recovery of Indian-made INSAS rifles from the insurgent group United People's Democratic Front (UPDF).

The tribal-dominated CHT has historically been plagued by insurgency and failed peace accords. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord (CHT Accord) of 1997 is yet to be implemented. The accord promised, among others removal of military camps from the hills, the transfer of administrative power to tribals and the relocation of Bengali settlers outside the CHT.

Militarisation up under Yunus regime

Despite the accord promising military withdrawal and indigenous self-governance, the Bangladesh military continues to exercise de facto control over the CHT.

Militarisation of the region significantly increased under the Yunus government as it began taking a keen interest in the internal affairs of Myanmar’s Rakhine state under the pretext of creating a conducive environment for the repatriation of Rohingya refugees residing in Bangladesh.

Initially, the government supported the idea of an UN-sponsored “Rakhine Corridor,” a controversial proposal to establish a humanitarian passage from Bangladesh into Myanmar’s Rakhine state for delivering aid to the conflict-affected area.

However, after the plan faltered due to a lack of consensus within the government, the Bangladesh Armed Forces Division (AFD) and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) earlier this year reportedly recommended declaring the 271-kilometre Bangladesh-Myanmar border, a stretch primarily running through the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox’s Bazar district, a Military Operations Zone (MOZ).

Security allegations strain ties

The proposal has far-reaching consequences for regional stability amid allegations that Bangladesh’s security establishment is assisting Rohingya militant groups such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) in their fight against the Arakan Army (AA).

The two Rohingya armed groups have reportedly aligned with Myanmar’s military junta to help reclaim territories seized by the Arakan Army.

The United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the AA, claimed in a press statement that since September 16, Rohingya militants have launched coordinated attacks on its security positions in northern Maungdaw township, near the Bangladesh border.

It is alleged that the ARSA and the RSO are carrying out attacks from their bases inside Bangladesh. Alleging that some Bangladesh security officials were backing Rohingya armed groups, the ULA warned that such actions could undermine border stability, security, and bilateral relations.

It further urged the Bangladesh government to investigate and take swift action against the erring officials.

Regional fault lines widen further

This is not the first time Arakan insurgents, who are fighting for an independent homeland in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, have expressed concern over the Bangladesh government’s alleged overt or covert support for Rohingya militant groups.

Also read | Will Bangladesh's pro-Islam foreign policy change after 2026 polls?

The ULA reportedly raised similar concerns during bilateral discussions with the Bangladesh government in May this year. It is said to have conveyed to Bangladeshi authorities that Rohingya extremist groups could not have established such entrenched bases within Bangladesh without the tacit support of the government or senior military officials.

Bangladesh’s security establishment, meanwhile, fears that the Arakan Army could seek to destabilise the Chittagong Hill Tracts by leveraging its ties with local ethnic communities. The prolonged military suppression of tribal populations is widely seen as a response to such concerns.

Incidentally, the Marma community, which is at the forefront of the latest protests in the CHT, is descended from the Arakanese.