AIPP Condemns Violent Attacks on Jumma Indigenous Peoples in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and Urges Immediate Action to Protect Indigenous Peoples

Date: 23 September 2024

A series of violent attacks occurred against Jumma Indigenous Peoples in Dighinala, Khagrachhari Sadar, and Rangamati Sadar of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh, resulting in at least four fatalities. It is alleged that the attacks also left nearly a hundred indigenous men and women seriously injured. Additionally, over a hundred indigenous homes, shops, and offices were burned down, forcing many indigenous women and children to flee their homes for safety.

These attacks followed the death of a Bengali settler, Mamun, on 18 September. Several media outlets reported that he survived a mob beating on suspicion of stealing a motorcycle in the Noapara area of Khagrachhari Sadar and later hit a utility pole while trying to flee from there. Injured Mamun was taken to Khagrachhari Medical Hospital, where he breathed his last. A group of Bengali settlers accused local Jumma people of the killing and held a protest on the same day in Khagrachhari Sadar. Communal slogans against Indigenous Peoples were chanted during the demonstration, inciting Bengali settlers to launch violent attacks on indigenous homes in various areas. While the attackers managed to vandalize some homes, indigenous Jummas collectively resisted, forcing the settlers to stop.

On 19 September, Bengali settlers in Dighinala sub-district, Khagrachhari, held another protest in the Dighinala Sadar area. As they continued to chant communal and anti-Jumma slogans, tensions escalated between the local Bengali settlers and Indigenous Peoples, resulting in sporadic clashes. Later that afternoon, Bengali settlers in Dighinala, allegedly in the presence of military personnel, launched further attacks on Indigenous Peoples and set fire to their homes and shops. Dhana Ranjan Chakma was beaten to death during the attacks.

As news of the attacks in Dighinala Sadar spread, Indigenous Peoples held protests in various parts of Khagrachhari Sadar, demanding justice for the victims in Dighinala. According to sources, the military fired bullets at indigenous protesters, killing Rubel Tripura and Junan Chakma and injuring several dozens. The injured were taken to Khagrachhari Medical College in serious condition.

The attacks in Dighinala triggered further protests by Indigenous Peoples in Khagrachhari, Bandarban, Rangamati, Chittagong, and Dhaka on 19 and 20 September. However, the peaceful rally of Indigenous Peoples on 20 September in Rangamati Sadar was met with violent attacks by Bengali settlers. While the exact number of casualties remains unclear, one indigenous person named Anik Kumar Chakma was reportedly killed, at least fifty people were injured, and homes and shops of Indigenous Peoples were vandalized. In addition, the offices of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council (CHTRC) and the district office of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samity (PCJSS) were set on fire, and a Buddhist temple, Moitri Vihar, was vandalized and looted.

Local sources have confirmed that the attacks in Rangamati Sadar were incited by a rumour spread by unidentified miscreants, falsely claiming that a mosque in the Banarupa area had been attacked by indigenous protesters. However, no such attack has been confirmed. The administration largely remained inactive during these incidents. Only later in the afternoon was Section 144 imposed in Rangamati Sadar and Khagrachhari Sadar to control the situation.

AIPP condemns all forms of violence that took place in the Chittagong Hill Tracts between 18–20 September. We call on the Interim Government of Bangladesh to take immediate action, including:

• Take immediate administrative and political measures to stop communal and violent attacks on Indigenous Peoples in the Chittagong Hill Tracts;
• Restore peace and security for local people;
• Arrest all perpetrators of the violent attacks and killings and bring them to justice;
• Investigate the involvement of military personnel and other state representatives in the violent attacks and hold them accountable for the killings and violence;
• Provide adequate medical support to the injured;
• Offer financial support to the indigenous survivors of the violent and arson attacks;
• End military rule in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in accordance with the 1997 CHT Accord.

Click here to download the full statement on violent attack in CHT