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From the begining the Jumma people were branded as 'pro-Indians'.
It is true that the Jumma people led by Sneha Kumar Chakma had
hoisted the Indian flag. It is also important to note that the
Burmese flag too had been hoisted at Banderban yet they were not
branded as 'pro-Burmese'. This generalisation therefore has to be
understood in the context of the politics of the period, which was
marked by intense India-Pakistan rivalry. This mind set of the
Pakistani leadership was not inclined to accommodation of the
Jumma people.
In the state of Pakistan, the constitutional safeguards to the special
status of the CHT were gradually eroded. In 1948 the CHT Police
Regulation was annulled and the police force which was manned by
the Jumma people was disbanded. In 1955 an attempt was
made by the Muslim League leaders of East Pakistan to merge the
CHT with the province of East Pakistan as an ordinary district. The
move failed due to the combined efforts of Colonel Niblett, the last
British born Deputy Commissioner of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT),
the Chakma Raja and
others. The first Constitution of Pakistan in 1956 accordingly
retained the special administrative status of the CHT as an
'Excluded Area'. The region
had been under the control of the central government since 1947,
and the CHT Manual of 1900 provided the basic framework of its
administration. This arrangement continued under the 1956
Constitution. Nonetheless by virtue of this Constitution the entire
indigenous population of the CHT had been turned into second-class
citizens, for according to Clause 15 (I) of the Constitution, only a
Muslim could hold the position of the Head of the State in the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
After the military takeover in Pakistan in 1958 the "opening up" of the
CHT was accelerated. Despite official restrictions, the Bangladeshis
had by that time already been able to establish near monopolies on the
CHT's economy. And now it became state policy to exploit the CHT with
a view to Bangladeshi (East Pakistani) interests. By 1962 the Kaptai
Hydro Electric Dam built, creating a huge reservoir and submerging
20,000 ha. of the best queality hill valley land. At least 100,000 people
or more than a quarter of the total population of the CHT were displaced
without adequate rehabilitation.
The Constitution of 1962 changed the status of the CHT from an
'Excluded Area' to that of 'Tribal Area'. A recognition of its
distinctiveness was given, but the CHT could not remain excluded for long.
Moreover by the mid
1960s the government had transferred all local indigenous
employees in administration to other parts of East Pakistan. The
local administration was now entirely staffed by the Bangladeshis. In 1963
during a visit abroad by President Ayub. the Acting President of
Pakistan Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, a Bengali, brought about an
amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan aud did away totally with
the special status provision of the CHT. Despite strong protests from
the local leaders it came into effect in 1964. In
1964, the Dhaka High Court which had recently been given
jurisdiction over the CHT, struck down Rule 51 of the CHT Manual,
which had given the DC the power to expel non Jumma people from the
area. It was argued that it violated the freedom of movement of
citizens with in the country, fundamental right, guaranteed in the
Constitution of Pakistan. An amendment to Rule 34 was also made.
It gave non Jumma people having resided in the area continuously for
fifteen years property rights. The above moves only deepened the
sense of alienation among the Jumma people, for the changes were
brought about without consulting the Jumma people. More
importantly these amendments were brought about against the
backdrop of the Kaptai Dam project, which already had
caused much distress among the Jumma people. It is plausible to
suggest that the construction of the Kaptai dam in the CHT had
opened up new economic opportunities to the Bangladeshis at the
cost of Jumma land, furthermore the dam had facilitated the migration
of large number of the Bangladeshis into the CHT. This exacerbated
the antagonism of the Jumma people
towards the Bangladeshis.
This alienation sowed the seeds of politicisation of the CHT
people. A consequence of this alienation was that the Jumma people in
general, and the leadership in particular remained indifferent to the cause of
the Bangladeshi liberation war against Pakistan in 1971.
Sources:
- The Charge of Genocide: Organizing Committee CHT Campaign, The Netherlands, 1986
- The Politics of Nationalism: by Amena Mohsin
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