Chittagong Hill Tracts
As one who has been intimately associated with the Hill Tracts, especially Bandarban, for nearly 60 years, the recent tragic events are a sad reminder of the unabated exploitation, suppression, oppression, broken and unimplemented pledges and denial of justice, to which the tribes that inhabit the Hill Tracts, have been subjected to, by the uncontrolled injection of hordes of plains land people, the apathy of successive governments over 60 years and the progressive destruction of their distinct language and culture.
Apart from land grabbing, destruction of homes and businesses, I believe the depredations of the money-lenders originally sowed the seeds of discontent by the usurious interest charged by them (up to 1,400% p.a.) on small loans given to tribesmen, usually at the time of Jhoom cultivation, that ensured that the receiver was enslaved to the 'mahajans' for generations.
I am not surprised therefore, that they have resorted to violence in defence of their rights. I had given ample warning to successive administrations in the CHT during the 50s and 60s of the discontent brewing.
In this connection, I would refer to the informative account of the tragic death of Col Niblett, the Deputy Commissioner of CHT in the mid-50s as related by Mahmood and Faisal Sipra in two issues of the Star Magazine in April 2008. The article “A Prince, the Civil Servant and a Bull Elephant” narrates the events leading to the visit of the brother of the Shah of Iran to the CHT, that tragically ended in Col Niblett being trampled to death by the bull elephant 'Lal Bahadur' during the elephant hunt arranged in his honour.
As luck would have it, and just a few days before his death, I had the privilege of meeting Col Niblett in Rangamati for the first and last time, conveying to him the complaints filed by the people of Thankhyong Mouza (near Bolipara, Bandarban) against the money-lenders. I wrote a sequel to the Sipra Brothers' article that was sent to the Star Magazine in March 2009, but I am not sure if it was printed. Both articles vividly depict segments of life in the hills in the 50s and would be of interest to those concerned with the recent history of the Hill Tracts.
It will be my pleasure to send both articles to anyone interested.
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