Is Chittagong, located in south Bangladesh and adjacent to the north-east Indian states of Tripura, Assam and Mizoram, emerging as a potential security threat to eastern India, especially with an enhancing stage for armed outfits from Bangladesh, Myanmar’s Arakan (Rahine) State and north-east India? Can New Delhi ignore the cumulative suffering of the indigenous population in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), terming it an internal affair of Bangladesh and subsequent repercussions with the partial implantation of CHT peace accord, signed in late Nineties under the tenure of recently ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, where the Chakma and other tribal people continue suffering from various atrocious policies from Dhaka?
A recent summit, organised by the All India Chakma Students’ Union (AICSU) in Guwahati, paved the way for a series of discussions and deliberations on the present status of CHT and relentless human rights violations for the Pahari people. The third annual conference of AICSU, an apex student’s body of Chakma tribal community in India, on 6 and 7 March 2026 at Shilpgram NEZCC Auditorium, witnessed the participation of scholars, advocates, journalists and student leaders for a meaningful dialogue, where it was meticulously highlighted the implications engineered by non-implementation of the Chittagong accord over the regional security of India. Needless to mention that nearly three decades after the signing of the CHT agreement, the expected outcome of durable peace remains elusive in the region. Even though the accord formally ended a two – decade long armed confrontation, the ultimate commitment for justice, meaningful autonomy and land rights for the indigenous Pahari/Jumma peoples were yet to be fulfilled.
Heavy militarisation, unresolved land disputes, weakened civilian institutions and persistent human rights violations in the CHT continue to draw international media attention. As the locality shares a sensitive international boundary with India and Myanmar, its insinuation always has a bigger perspective. “India’s national security doctrine prioritises stable neighbourhoods as a buffer against transnational threats, including trafficking, illegal migration, extremist networks, and external strategic penetration. Any governance vacuum or recurring violence in the CHT may be exploited by non-state actors or external geopolitical competitors seeking influence in the Bay of Bengal region.
Therefore, the continued non-implementation of the Accord sustains structural fragility—transforming an unresolved political settlement into a latent regional security risk with tangible implications for India’s north-eastern frontier and its wider strategic interests in the Bay of Bengal,” said AICSU president Drishya Muni Chakma. For records, Chittagong locality with over 95% non-Muslim population was included in East Pakistan during the partition of India. The anxiety was rooted with the development which instigated struggles among the locals. Their insecurities multiplied with the Kaptai dam in the 1960s, which compelled thousands of indigenous Pahari people to leave their home places. Various agencies argue that no less than 100,000 individuals were evicted by the project and many of the displaced families entered India through the Tripura border.
When Bangladesh became a sovereign country in 1971, the tribal leaders approached Dhaka for autonomy, but it was sharply rejected. Meanwhile, over 400,000 landless Bengali Muslim people were given settlement in the CHIT and thousands of Bangladeshi soldiers were sent for their protection. Soon the Pahari people started agitating against the incursion with democratic ways, but later it turned violent. President Ziaur Rahman and dictator Hussain Mohammad Ershad tried to resolve the issue with a series of discussions, but failed. Finally, Bangladesh Awami League leader Hasina, during her first premiership, succeeded in inking the CHT accord on 2 December 1997 to end the two decade long insurgency.
The CHT armed struggle (1977–1997) resulted in the killing of over 30,000 people and displacement of a large volume of locals. Shanti Bahini, an armed wing of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS , signatory of the accord) lost nearly 2,000 rebels while fighting against the Bangladesh security forces. Even though the accord granted some kind of autonomy and cultural rights to Pahari people, they continue demanding its full implementation. Local Buddhists, Hindus and other ethno-religious groups are still pursuing more autonomy, land rights and protection from the state-supported Bengali-Muslim settlers in their localities. An intriguing session in the Guwahati conference painted the potential risks with the displacement of Chakma and other communities from Chittagong, where many may seek refuge in north-eastern states following the cross-border ethnic linkages.
Moreover, the revival of insurgency in the CHT, multiplied by the inclusion of Rohingya Muslim terror outfits and some separatist anti-New Delhi militants belonging to the region, may complicate the improved security scenario in eastern Indian localities. Unconfirmed reports suggest that occasional meetings among the leaders of Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, Assam-based insurgent group and PCJSS sponsored militant outfits have taken place in south Bangladesh with patronage from Dhaka.
The session, moderated by former AICSU president Shyamal Bikash Chakma and graced by Dr Anurag Chakma (research fellow in an Australian university), Dr Ankita Dutta (JNU professor), Naresh Chakma (research scholar at Nalanda University), Kuldeep Baisya (advocate at Gauhati High Court) and this writer, also highlighted on the functioning of three district councils in Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban (under the CHT) with nominated members, where the mandatory elections were not conducted for decades. Moreover, a political entity like PCJSS, while enjoying political power following the alignment with Dhaka for all the years, still sponsors an armed group, which are contradictory in nature. Probably it’s high time for the indigenous CHT population to redefine their means of resistance.
(THE WRITER IS A GUWAHATI-BASED SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATESMAN)