Bhushanchhara massacre was a massacre of Bengali settlers in Bhushanchhora union of Rangamati District of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. [1] It was committed by the Shanti Bahini, the armed wing of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti on 31st of May, 1984. [1]
On May 31 1984, the Bengalis living in Bhushanchhara union of Barkal Upazila of Rangamati were targeted.
According to claims made by locals and security sources, an armed group of 125 of Shanti Bahini personnel headed Moni Swapan Dewan alias Major Rajesh surrounded the entire village late at night. In just four hours from 4 am to 8 am, they killed 400 ethnic Bengalis, including women and children. [2] [3]
No case of the incident was registered with the police. [2] Victims of the massacre allege that reports of the massacre were covered up, and no reports of the incident was published in local and foreign media. [2]
Moni Swapan, the alleged chief perpetrator, later became a member of parliament and deputy minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs. [2]
As of 2023, the killing has not gone to trial and victims were yet to be compensated. [3]
The Bangladesh Armed Forces are the military forces of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. They consist of the three uniformed military services: the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force. The Armed Forces are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Bangladesh, and are directly administered by the Armed Forces Division of the Prime Minister's Office. The President of Bangladesh serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. Bangladesh has the third-largest defence budget in South Asia. The Bangladeshi military is also the 35th strongest in the world and the third most powerful military force in South Asia. Border Guard Bangladesh and Bangladesh Coast Guard are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs during peacetime, but during wartime, they fall under the command of the Bangladesh Army and the Bangladesh Navy, respectively.
Bir Uttom is the second highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh after the Bir Sreshtho and the highest gallantry award for a living individual.
The Shanti Bahini was the armed wing of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti in Bangladesh. It is considered an insurgent group in Bangladesh. The Shanti Bahini was made out of mostly members from the Chakma tribe.
The Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti is a left wing political party formed to represent the people and indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. Since its inception in 1972, the PCJSS has fought for autonomy and the recognition of the ethnic identity and rights of the indigenous tribes of the Hill Tracts. Its military arm, the Shanti Bahini was used to fight government forces and Bengali settlers in the Hill Tracts. A peace accord was signed in 1997 led to the disarmament of the Shanti Bahini and enabled the PCJSS to return to mainstream politics.
Rangamati is the administrative headquarters of Rangamati District in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The town is located at 22°37'60N 92°12'0E and has an elevation of 14 metres (46 ft) above sea level.
The Razakar were a gendarmerie and paramilitary force in East Pakistan organised by General Tikka Khan in 1971. They were organised as a counter-insurgency force to fight Mukti Bahini guerrillas in the Bangladesh Liberation War, and played an infamous role in the Bangladesh genocide. The Razakars were disbanded following Pakistan's defeat and surrender in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.
The Bangladesh War of Independence started on 26 March 1971 and ended on 16 December 1971. Some of the major events of the war are listed in the timeline below.
Manabendra Narayan Larma was a Bangladeshi politician and member of parliament. A leading proponent of the rights of the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, he was the founding leader of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti and its armed wing, the Shanti Bahini.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord was a peace agreement signed between the Government of Bangladesh and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, the political organisation that controlled the Shanti Bahini militia on 2 December 1997. The accord allowed for the recognition of the rights of the peoples and tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region and ended the decades-long insurgency between the Shanti Bahini and government forces.
The insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, also known as the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict, refers to a political and armed conflict that occurred in Bangladesh in two phases:
The Mukti Bahini, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. They were initially called the Mukti Fauj.
Bangladesh has experienced terrorism in the past conducted by a number of different organisations. In the past, both ISIL and other terrorist organisations had claimed to be active in the country. However, the Bangladeshi government believes that they mainly operated through local affiliates, before being neutralised by security forces.
The Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs is the government ministry of Bangladesh responsible for Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Chittagong Hill Tracts have been inhabited by various ethnic groups and non-tribal people for ages. While the non-Bengali ethnic groups possess cultural distinctiveness, they are also an integral part of the original population. Since independence, the government of Bangladesh has been adopting and implementing various development projects for the overall development of the region. An agreement was executed on December 2, 1997 between the National Committee for Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Chittagong Hill Tracts People's Association. According to the terms of the agreement, the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs was formed on July 15, 1998.
Kalparanjan Chakma was a Bangladesh Awami League politician and a Minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs. He helped negotiate the release of two Danes and a Briton kidnapped by Shanti Bahini members in Chittagong Hill Tracts.
24th Infantry Division is a formation of the Bangladesh Army, headquartered in Chittagong Cantonment, Chittagong District. It is the largest division of the Bangladesh Army.
Moni Swapan Dewan alias Major Rajesh is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician, ethnic Chakma, and a former member of parliament from the Chittagong Hill Tracts. He is also the former deputy minister for Hill Tracts Affairs.
The Logang massacre was the massacre of the Jumma people by the Bangladesh security forces and illegal plainsmen Bengali settlers in Logang village of Khagrachari District on 10 April 1992.
The Sohagpur massacre was a mass killing of 187 civilians on 25 July 1971 in the Mymensingh District of East Pakistan during the Liberation War. The massacre was perpetrated by the Pakistan Army and Al-Badr, a paramilitary force opposing Bangladeshi independence. Following the massacre, Sohagpur became known as the "village of widows."
Santahar massacre was a massacre of thousands of men, women and children in the railway town of Santahar located in Naogaon District of East Pakistan.
Operation Dabanal, translation Operation Wildfire, was a counterinsurgency operation carried out by Bangladesh Army in the Chittagong Hill Tracts from 1977 to 1997. During the operation, an estimated 30 to 80 thousand security personnel were deployed to the region.