Conflicts among different groups in Chattogram Hill Tracts have led to the death of 24 people in six months.
Conflict prevails between at least four active groups in the Hill Tracts which were once part of a single organisation called Chattogram Hill Tracts Jana Sanghati Samity (JSS), which signed a peace treaty in 1997.
In 1998, the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) led by Preetam Khisha emerged, opposing the treaty between the then-Awami League administration and JSS led by Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma alias Santu Larma.
Since then the two groups have been locked in conflicts in the three hill tract districts — Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari.
At least a thousand of leaders and activists have died in the conflicts between the groups since then.
In 2007, a faction of JSS opposed Santu Larma’s leadership and became inactive until 2010, when they formed the JSS MN-Larma faction.
And last year, the UPDF splintered with the emergence of the UPDF (Ganatantrik) and opened up a fresh round of conflicts.
According to security agencies and rights bodies, the conflicts have left as many as 24 people killed in the last six months.
In December last year, JSS President Santu Larma had warned of violence erupting in the region and called for the implementation of the 1997 peace deal.
On May 3, Rangamati Naniarchar Upazila Chairman and JSS (MN Larma) faction leader Shaktiman Chakma was shot dead in front his office while another leader, Rupom Chakma, was shot and injured.
The next day, 6 people were killed in an armed ambush on their way to the funeral of Shaktiman. The dead included top UPDF Ganatantrik leader Tapan Jyoti Barma.
On May 21, former UPDF activist Ujjwal Kanti Chakma was murdered at Khagrachari’s Dighinala Upazila and the next day shootings broke out in broad daylight between two groups in the district town.
And on Monday, three UPDF activists were gunned down at a village in Rangamati’s Baghaichhari Upazila.
Several insiders, asking not to be named, said that the upcoming national election was the reason behind new avenue of conflicts opening up.
Since the formation of Tapan Jyoti-led UPDF Ganatantrik last year, 11 UPDF members have been killed with the organisation losing control over Khagrachhari.
Meanwhile, the JSS (MN Larma), which is known to be close with UPDF Ganatantrik, maintains that the UPDF does not want peace in the region.
“They are killing anyone opposing them and that’s evident from the murders, including that of Tapan Jyoti Chakma Barma,” said its Political Affairs Secretary Bivuranjan Chakma.
According to him, it’s about time the government bans UPDF for peace in the region.
With the national elections coming, a desperate UPDF has allied with once arch-rival JSS, in an effort to clinch the parliamentary constituencies.
“The UPDF did not entire oppose the Peace Accord, rather some of the clauses, which needs to be amended before implementing the treaty,” said Angya Marma, president of UPDF-backed Ganatantrik Juba Forum.
Claiming that the UPDF is getting popular among hill district residents, he said, “UPDF candidates won in the 9th and 10th national elections, but they were barred from going to the parliament. The UPDF can ally with anyone for the sake of the nation.”
Angya says the UPDF had expelled Tapan Jyoti Barma. “With the backing of JSS MN Larma faction, he and other ousted members formed a new group, but the people do not see it as a political front rather a gang of masked men,” he added.
He called for proper investigation in to all the killings, including of Tapan Jyoti rather than blaming the UPDF.
Khagrachari’s Superintendent of Police Ali Ahmad Khan says they have made some arrests over the recent killings.
“They are being interrogated and raids are on to nab the perpetrators,” he told Bangla Tribune.