Our Land Our Life

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is situated in the extreme southeast part of Bangladesh and comprises the three administrative districts- Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban. These are mostly inhabited by indigenous people. The construction of the Kaptai Dam over the Karnafuly River during 1959-1963 resulted inundation of 54,000 acres of much of the best agricultural land in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, displacing almost 100,000 indigenous people from their homes. There was inadequate compensation and insufficient rehabilitation of these internally displaced persons, which created lot of discontents and conflict. At the same time,

People protesting against illegal land encroachment.

Government forestry programme put about 24% of total area of the Chittagong Hill Tracts under reserve forest, limiting the indigenous people from practicing their traditional forms of agriculture, locally known as jum (slash and burn). The situation aggravated when government sponsored settlement programme during 1979-1984 and encouraged people (non-indigenous) from the plain land to settle in the Chittagong Hill Tracts causing increased pressure on scarce land and leading to tension and conflicts between the settlers and the indigenous people. Many violent clashes resulted and thousands of indigenous people fled to India as refugees. The violence turned into armed conflict with the Government. Military camps were set up all over the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Indigenous people organised into armed groups. After a peace treaty accord signed in December 1997 the indigenous people who fled to India returned to Bangladesh. After return they face a lot of problems with settlers who illegally occupied their land and forced them to leave their homes living for time immemorial. This is a gross injustice. They have a strong love for nature and feeling of harmony with the environment, especially the forests.
For them, land is their life-blood and source of livelihood (food security), identities and culture.
They say that the safe, secure and affordable access to land by the indigenous people is a significant factor in poverty reduction. A piece of land can provide a family relief from hunger and ensure right to live in the society with due respect, honour and dignity. It is reiterated that the ownership of land has been their dream for a long time.