Bhushanchhara massacre was a massacre of Bengali settlers in Bhushanchhora union of
Rangamati District of the
Chittagong Hill tracts.
It was committed by the
Shanti Bahini, the armed wing of the
Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti
The Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti ( bn, পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম জনসংহতি সমিতি; ''United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts''; abbreviated PCJSS) is a political party form ...
on 31st of May, 1984.
Background
On May 31 1984, the
Bengalis
Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the ...
living in Bhushanchhara union of
Barkal upazila
Barkal ( bn, বরকল ) is an upazila (sub-district) of Rangamati District in the Division of Chittagong Division, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Tribal people call it as Borhol বড়হল .
Geography
Barkal is located at . It has a total are ...
of
Rangamati were targeted.
According to claims made by locals and security sources, an armed group of 125 of
Shanti Bahini personnel headed
Moni Swapan Dewan
Moni Swapan Dewan (born 18 May 1954) alias Major Rajesh is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician, ethnic Chakma, and a former member of parliament from the Chittagong Hill Tracts. He is also the former deputy minister for Hill Tracts Affai ...
alias Major Rajesh surrounded the entire village late at night. In just four hours from 4 am to 8 am, they killed 400 ethnic Bengalis, including women and children.
Aftermath
No case of the incident was registered with the police.
Victims of the massacre allege that reports of the massacre were covered up, and no reports of the incident was published in local and foreign media.
Moni Swapan, the alleged chief perpatrator, later became a
member of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
and
deputy minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.
As of 2021, the killing has not gone to
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...
and victims were yet to be compensated.
References
{{coord missing, Bangladesh
Massacres in 1984
1984 in Bangladesh
Massacres in Bangladesh
Racism in Bangladesh