On 26 August 2003; Bangladesh army in league with Muslim settlers attacked the indigenous Buddhist people in Mahalchari. Bangladesh army and Muslim settlers set fire on more than 370 indigenous Buddhist houses. An indigenous Chakma man and an indigenous Chakma infant (8 months) were killed. More than 1000 indigenous Buddhist people were rendered homeless. Lemucharipara Buddhist Temple and Babupara Buddhist Temple were burnt down. Lord Buddha's images were demolished. Bangladesh army and Muslim settlers raped 10 indigenous Chakma women.

Bangladesh army desecrate Buddhist temple in Rangamati

On March 10, 1995, Bangladesh army of Bhijakijing Camp attacked Hazachara village in Rangamati. Bangladesh army rounded up the indigenous villagers, interrogated them and harassed them.

Having found no members of the JSS or Shanti Bahini Bangladesh army attacked the local Buddhist Temple. Bangladesh army searched it, desecrated it, interrogated the monk and harassed him in a very humi­liating manner in order to hurt the religious sentiment of the indigenous Buddhist people.

In 1947, India was partitioned on the basis of religion. In 1947, 98.5% of the CHT population was non-Muslim. The indigenous people of CHT opted to join either India or Burma. But Muslim League conspired with the Boundary Commission and illegally annexed CHT with East Pakistan in violation of the principle of partition. Successive Bangladesh governments have been sponsoring Muslim settlers from plain land to dilute the indigenous people of CHT. Bangladesh army's role is to protect the Muslim settlers and carry out ethnic cleansing against indigenous people in CHT.

Religious persecution and destruction of places of worship is commonplace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Religious persecution takes place in the form of torture, murder, intimidation of the Buddhist monks and deliberate and systematic destructions of places of worship.

There have been numerous incidents of forcible conversion in the CHT. Buddhist men or women who marry Bengali Muslims whether by choice or by force, have to convert to Islam. The Buddhist prisoners who are detained in Chittagong, Rangamati or Khagrachari jails are placed in cells with a majority of Muslims whose task it is to try and convert the Buddhist persons. The Buddhists who are captured by the Bangladeshi security forces are very often given the options of torture or conversion to Islam as a way to escape the suffering.

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