Shanti Bahini
| Shanti Bahini | |
|---|---|
| শান্তি বাহিনী | |
Flag of Shanti Bahini | |
| Leaders | M.N. Larma Shantu Larma |
| Dates of operation | 1972—1997 (small pockets of resistance remained active until 2006) |
| Active regions | Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh |
| Ideology | Autonomy for tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts |
| Size | 2,600–15,000[1][2] |
| Part of | Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti |
| Allies | India Myanmar |
| Opponents | Bangladesh |
| Battles and wars | Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict |
The Shanti Bahini (Bengali: শান্তি বাহিনী; "Peace Force") was the armed wing of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti in Bangladesh. It is considered as a insurgent group in Bangladesh.[3] Most of its members were ethnically Chakma.[4]
History
After Bangladesh's independence in 1971, Manabendra Narayan Larma founded PCJSS on 15 February 1972, aiming to represent natives of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Larma was elected to the Jatiya Sangsad.[5] After peaceful efforts to gain recognition failed, the PCJSS organized the Shanti Bahini in 1972 to wage armed warfare against the Bangladeshi government.[6]
They began attacking Bangladesh Army convoys in 1977.[7][8][9] Larma went into hiding and was assassinated on 10 November 1983.[8][5]
On 23 June 1981, Shanti Bahini militants attacked a Bangladesh Rifles camp, and killed 13 people and later executed 24 more.[10]
Massacres
In the 1980s, to resettle landless Bengalis, the government granted land in the Hill Tracts, displacing many tribal people.[11] On 31 May 1984, Shanti Bahini members killed 400 Bengalis at Bhushanchhara.[12][13]
On 29 April 1986, they massacred 19 Bengalis.[14][15] On 26 June 1989, they burned villages whose inhabitants participated in elections.[16]
In 1996, they abducted and killed 30 Bengalis, and they massacred Bengali lumberjacks.[17][18]
Peace Accord
On 2 December 1997, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord was signed and the Shanti Bahini agreed to disarm.[19] They surrendered weapons in Khagrachhari, leading to removal of a curfew and 50,000 refugees gradually attempted to return.[20] However, dissidents formed groups like the United People’s Democratic Front.[21] The Bangladesh Nationalist Party criticised the accord, which remains partially unimplemented.[22][23]
In August 2014, Border Security Force troops arrested five Chakmas with arms in Mizoram.[24]
Before this, following the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, India reportedly sheltered and supported Shanti Bahini, and trained them in Chakrata, India.[25][26][27]
See also
References
- ^ Fortna, Virginia Page (2008). Does Peacekeeping Work?. Princeton University Press. p. 53. ISBN 9781400837731. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
- ^ "Shanti Bahini". IPCS. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
- ^ "Where is Kalpana?". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 12 June 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Ahmed, Ishtiaq (1998). State, Nation and Ethnicity in Contemporary South Asia. A&C Black. p. 235. ISBN 9781855675780.
- ^ a b Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir, eds. (2012). "Larma, Manabendra Narayan". Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
- ^ Hazarika, Sanjoy (11 June 1989). "Bangladeshi Insurgents Say India Is Supporting Them". The New York Times.
- ^ "18 Days That Shook Bangladesh". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 6 June 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ a b Singh, Nagendra K. (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh. Anmol Publications. p. 229.
- ^ Chowdhury, Bushra Hasina (2002). Building Lasting Peace: Issues of the Implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord. University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign. Archived from the original on 1 September 2006.
- ^ The Election Archives. Shiv Lal. 1982. p. 218.
- ^ "Chittagong Hill Tracts land issue". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 25 September 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "Bhusanchara Genocide: 400 Bengalis killed within hour". 7 October 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "Bhushanchhara genocide in Rangamati: No trial in 37 years". The Daily Observer (Bangladesh). Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ^ "Samo Adhiker demands punishment of culprits". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 30 April 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Uddin, G. M. Masbah (1 January 1992). The Chittagong Hill Tracts: falconry in the hills. s.n. p. 82.
- ^ Tahir, Naveed Ahmad (1 January 1997). The Politics of Ethnicity and Nationalism in Europe and South Asia. Area Study Centre for Europe, University of Karachi. p. 145.
- ^ "Militant attacks in Bangladesh claim 393 lives in last 11 years". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "Army pullout from CHT opposed by settlers". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "CHT accord and ten wasted years". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 6 December 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "Peace Accord must not remain on paper only". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 2 December 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "Brother against brother". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 21 January 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Panday, Pranab Kumar; Jamil, Ishtiaq (2015). Chima, Jugdep S. (ed.). Conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh: An Unimplemented Accord and Continued Violence. Routledge. p. 157. ISBN 9781138839922.
- ^ "A saga of un-kept promises". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 2 December 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "Two Bangladeshi Chakmas among five arrested with huge arms in India". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "Bangladesh is in 'Great Game'". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 12 February 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Gunaratna, Rohan; Iqbal, Khuram (1 January 2012). Pakistan: Terrorism Ground Zero. Reaktion Books. p. 219. ISBN 9781780230092.
- ^ Hazarika, Sanjoy (14 October 2000). Strangers of the Mist: Tales of War and Peace from India's Northeast. Penguin UK. ISBN 8184753349.