New Delhi: During the visit of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chakma leader Suhas Chakma submitted a memorandum urging both leaders to take measures to designate the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), currently under Bangladesh, as a “Non-Self-Governing Territory” under Chapter XI of the UN Charter.
Speaking on behalf of the Global Association for Indigenous Peoples of the CHT (GAIPCHT), Chakma said the region has yet to achieve full self-governance due to the non-implementation of the Indian Independence Act of 1947 and alleged violations by the Bangladeshi government.
“The Government of Bangladesh, acting as an occupying force, has transferred its civilian population into the CHT in clear breach of Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions,” he said.
Historically, the CHT was administered under the CHT Regulation of 1900 during British India, making it the only district in the country with a special law for governance.
The Bengal Boundary Commission, set up in 1947 under Sir Cyril John Radcliffe, was tasked with demarcating boundaries based on population.
However, Chakma said the Commission ignored deliberations on CHT and arbitrarily assigned it to East Pakistan on 17 August 1947. A British telegram later described this decision as “untenable,” exceeding the Commission’s terms of reference.
Chakma highlighted that after Bangladesh’s independence, successive governments intensified population transfers into the CHT.
Between 1979 and 1983, about 400,000 Muslim settlers were moved from plains into the region, violating the Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from transferring its own civilians into occupied territory.
Currently, Bangladesh reportedly provides free rations to 24,511 settler families in Khagrachari and 1,486 families in Rangamati.
The memorandum also detailed ongoing violence against indigenous peoples, including recent incidents in September 2024 and 2025.
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In the first, four indigenous people were killed and 75 injured; in the second, three Marma youths were shot dead while protesting the authorities’ failure to act against perpetrators of a gang-rape case involving a 12-year-old Marma girl.
Chakma accused the Bangladesh Army and illegal settlers of conducting these attacks.
Chakma called on the UK and Indian prime ministers to intervene to stop the transfer of Bangladeshi civilians into the CHT and to ensure the repatriation of illegal settlers, emphasising the need for international oversight to protect the rights of indigenous communities in the region.
