page_title: Chittagong Hill Tracts
section_title: Conflict
hierarchical_section_title: Chittagong Hill Tracts / History / Conflict
caption_attribution_description: বাংলা: ঝুলন্ত সেতু, কাপ্তাই হ্রদ, রাঙামাটি, চট্টগ্রাম English: Hanging Bridge, Kaptai Lake, Rangamati, Chittagong.
context_page_description: The Chittagong Hill Tracts, often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, are a group of districts within the Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar. Covering 13,295 square kilometres, they formed a single district until 1984, when they were divided into three districts: Khagrachari District, Rangamati Hill District, and Bandarban District. Topographically, the Hill Tracts are the only extensively hilly area in Bangladesh. It was historically settled by many tribal refugees from Burma Arakan in 16th century and now it is settled by indigenous peoples who have been living there since.
  The Chittagong Hill Tracts along with Ladakh, Sikkim, Tawang, Darjeeling, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, constitute the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia.
context_section_description: The conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts dates back to when Bangladesh was the eastern wing of Pakistan. Widespread resentment occurred over the displacement of as many as 100,000 of the native peoples due to the construction of the Kaptai Dam in 1962. The displaced did not receive compensation from the government and many thousands fled to India.
  After The Liberation War, a convoy of Bangladesh army was ambushed by militants of the Hill Tracts. More than 90+ soldiers were killed and several of them were heavily injured. This was the first bloodshed in Hill Tracts. After this massacre, which was committed by the guerilla force Shanti Bahini, Bangladesh deployed an army there. After some days, the Shanti Bahini started killing civilians in the Tracts. Many soldiers of the Bangladesh army were killed or injured by them.
  Following years of unrest, an agreement was formed between the government of Bangladesh and the tribal leaders which granted a limited level of autonomy to the elected council of the three hill districts.
  The 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord signed between the then Sheikh Hasina government and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti has been opposed by the opposition parties as well as a fraction of the tribal rebels.  Opposition parties argued that the autonomy granted in the treaty ignored the Bengali community. The successive Khaleda Zia government promised to implement the peace treaty, despite their opposition to it during the previous government's term. According to the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, a peace treaty between the Government of Bangladesh and Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti was signed on 2 December 1997.
caption: The Hanging Bridge, Rangamati Hill District
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