The Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti ( bn, পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম জনসংহতি সমিতি; ''United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts'';

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

PCJSS) is a political party formed to represent the people and indigenous tribes of the

Chittagong Hill Tracts The Chittagong Hill Tracts ( bn, পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম, Parbotto Chottogram), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, are group of districts within the Chittagong Division in southeast ...

in Bangladesh. Since its inception in 1972, the PCJSS has fought for autonomy and the recognition of the ethnic identity and rights of the indigenous tribes of the Hill Tracts. Its military arm, the

Shanti Bahini The Shanti Bahini ( bn, শান্তি বাহিনী; meaning "Peace Force") was the armed wing of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts) in Bangladesh. It is considered an insu ...

was used to fight government forces and Bengali settlers in the Hill Tracts. A peace accord was signed in 1997 led to the disarmament of the Shanti Bahini and enabled the PCJSS to return to mainstream politics.Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs

Background

The roots of the PCJSS can be traced to the Hill Tracts Students' Association and the

Parbatya Chattagram Upajatiya Kalyan Samiti The Parbatya Chattagram Upajatiya Kalyan Samiti (''United People's Welfare and Development Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts'') was a political organisation created in 1966 in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) to represent the 100,000 native peopl ...

(United People's Welfare and Development Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts) that were organised in the 1960s in what was then-

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...

. The organisations agitated on behalf of the 100,000 native peoples displaced by the construction of the

Kaptai Dam Kaptai Dam ( bn, কাপ্তাই বাঁধ) is on the Karnaphuli River at Kaptai, upstream from Chittagong in Rangamati District, Bangladesh. It is an earth-fill embankment dam with a reservoir (known as Kaptai Lake) water storage ca ...

, seeking rehabilitation and compensation. After the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, representatives of the Chittagong Hill Tracts such as the Chakma politicians Charu Bikash Chakma and Manabendra Narayan Larma sought autonomy and recognition of the rights of the peoples of the region. Larma and others protested the draft of the

Constitution of Bangladesh The Constitution of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের সংবিধান — ), officially the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশের ...

, although the Constitution recognised the ethnic identity but Larma and others wanted full sovereignty and separation from Bangladesh. The government policy of recognised only the Bengali culture and the

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...

and designating all citizens of Bangladesh as

Bengalis Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of ...

. In talks with Hill Tracts delegation led by Manabendra Narayan Larma, the country's founding leader

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

insisted that the ethnic groups of the Hill Tracts adopt the Bengali identity. Sheikh Mujib is also reported to have threatened to forcibly settle Bengalis in the Hill Tracts to reduce the native peoples into a minority.The PCJSS held its first national conference on 24 June 1972 at Indrapuri Cinema Hall of Rangamati town. A 60-member Central Committee of PCJSS was constituted with Birendra Kishore Roaza as President and M N Larma as the General Secretary.

Four-point manifesto and foundation

On 24 April 1972 Manabendra Narayan Larma presented a four-point manifesto to the constitution drafting committee, which sought: # Autonomy for the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the creation of its own Legislative Assembly. #Inclusion in the constitution of a statute like the Regulation of 1900 that safeguarded the identity and rights of the people of the Hill Tracts. #Preservation of the positions of tribal chiefs and tribal customs and laws. #Prohibition of amendments to the statute enshrining the Regulation of 1900 and the settlement of Bengalis in the Hill Tracts. The manifesto was summarily rejected by the government, causing resentment and dissatisfaction amongst the people of the Hill Tracts. On 15 February 1973 representatives and activists of the Hill Tracts founded the Parbatya Chhattagram Jana Samhatti Samiti (PCJSS) under Manabendra Narayan Larma's leadership. The party's official aims and objectives included

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and Agency (philosophy), agency of Human, human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical in ...

, nationalism, democracy,

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...

and the protection of the rights, culture and ethnic identity, and autonomy for the tribes of the Hill Tracts. The PCJSS sought to unify and represent all the tribes of the Hill Tracts and also organised a committee of villages, a students and youth wing and a women's wing of the party.

Insurgency

Dissatisfaction and anger due to government opposition to their demands led the PCJSS to organise the Shanti Bahini (Peace forces) as

military force A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

to launch an armed struggle to win autonomy and secure the rights of the people of the Hill Tracts. Many insurgents are believed to have trained, equipped and sheltered in the neighbouring Indian state of

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

. During the insurgency, the PCJSS strongly opposed the government-driven settlement of Bengalis in the Hill Tracts as a ploy to marginalise the tribes in their home region. The PCJSS also rejected the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board and other government plans for local councils. After an insurgency that lasted for almost two decades, the PCJSS entered into peace talks with the government after the restoration of democracy in 1991. However, little progress was made with the government of prime minister

Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...

and her

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the major ...

. Fresh rounds of talks began in 1996 with the newly elected prime minister

Sheikh Hasina Wajed Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...

of the Awami League, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib. The peace accord was finalised and formally signed on 2 December 1997. The peace accord provided for greater autonomy, the return of land to displaced tribals and special status for the ethnic groups and tribes. The accord also created a central ministry of tribal affairs and an elected regional council that would be empowered to govern the Hill Tracts and oversee local tribal councils. The accord also granted official recognition of the ethnic groups and tribes. After the treaty was signed, Shanti Bahini insurgents formally laid down their arms and more than 50,000 displaced tribals were able to return to their homes. The PCJSS emerged as a mainstream political party.

Recent activities

Since the peace accord, the PCJSS has emerged as a mainstream political party and is currently headed by Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, the younger brother of Manabendra Narayan Larma, who is also the chairman of the CHT regional council. The PCJSS has continued to agitate for the full and proper implementation of the peace accord and has alleged lack of government action and intimidation from security forces. The PCJSS has protested the rise of Islamism and Islamic terrorism in the region from groups based in Bangladesh and neighbouring

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. JSS militants are alleged to have killed the first Muslim convert Omar Faruk Tripura, founder and Imam of a Masjid in Bandarban through whose hands 30 families became muslims in his area.He was reported to be threatened by such militants because of preaching Islam and convincing people to be Muslim beforehand.

References

External links