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 (Burma) in the east. Covering 13,295 square kilometres (5,133 sq mi), they formed a single district until 1984, when they were divided into three districts: Khagrachhari, Rangamati, and Bandarban.
The Chakma people or Changhma people, are an ethnic group from the eastern-most regions of the Indian subcontinent and Western Myanmar. They are the second largest ethnic group of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of southeastern Bangladesh, and the largest in the Chakma Autonomous District Council of Mizoram, India. Significant Chakma populations are found in the northeast Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Assam.
Buddhism is the third-largest religious affiliation and formed about 0.63% of the population of Bangladesh. It is said that Buddha once in his life came to this region of East Bengal to spread his teachings and he was successful in converting the local people to Buddhism, specially in the Chittagong division and later on Pala empire propagate and patronized Buddhist religion throughout the Bengal territory. About 1 million people in Bangladesh adhere to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Over 65% of the Buddhist population is concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where it is the predominant faith of the Rakhine, Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya, other Jumma people and the Barua. The remaining 35% are Bengali Buddhists. Buddhist communities are present in the urban centers of Bangladesh, particularly Chittagong and Dhaka.
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.
Bandarban is a district in South-Eastern Bangladesh, and a part of the Chittagong Division. It is one of the three hill districts of Bangladesh and a part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the others being Rangamati District and Khagrachhari District. Bandarban district (4,479 km2) is not only the most remote district of the country, but also the least populous. There is an army contingent at Bandarban Cantonment.
Khagrachari is a district in the Chittagong Division of Southeastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region.
Chakma is an Indo-Aryan language in the Indo-European language family, whose speakers are known the Changhma or the Daingnet people. The language has common features with other languages in the region like the Chittagonian, Tanchangya, Arakanese and others. It has 483,299 speakers in Bangladesh primarily the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and another 230,000 in India, including 97,000 in Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. It is written using the Chakma script, but literacy in this script is low.
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 Sanghati 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 Tanchangya people, Tanchangyas or Tonchongyas are an Chinwin valley origin ethnic group living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, Indian states of Tripura and Mizoram, and Rakhine state of Myanmar.
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:
United People's Democratic Front is a regional political party based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. Chakmas form the majority ethnic group in the party. The United People's Democratic Front claims to seek a fully autonomous Hill Tracts through peaceful and democratic means. However, many of its members are armed and have expressed violent Buddhist extremist behaviour.
The Tanchangya language is one of the eleven indigenous languages in Chittagong Hill Tracts in present-day Bangladesh, and an ethnic group in the Indian states of Tripura and Mizoram, as well as Rakhine State in Myanmar. Despite the common belief that it is a Tibeto-Burman language, it is categorized as a Indo-Aryan language. It is closely related to Chakma and Chittagonian.
Wadud Bhuiyan is a Bangladeshi politician. Bhuiyan was elected twice as the member of the Jatiya Sangsad from Khagrachari constituency respectively in the 6th and 8th National Parliamentary Elections. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board from 2002 to 2006. He currently holds the posts of assistant employment secretary of Central Executive Committee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and president of the opposition party's Khagrachari local unit as well.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts lies in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh adjoining international boundaries with Myanmar on the southeast, the Indian states of Tripura on the north and Mizoram on the east. The Chittagong Hill Tracts, formally a single unified district was divided into three separate districts: Khagrachari, Bandarban, and Rangamati during the administrative reorganization in 1984.
Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing is a Bangladesh Awami League politician. He is from Bandarban district and was elected as a member of parliament from Bandarban constituency for the 7th time in the 12th parliamentary election. He served as the minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs from 2019 to 2024 and State Minister from 2014 to 2019.
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.
Kujendra Lal Tripura is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Khagrachhari District constituency. He is the chairman of the Taskforce on Tribal Refugees. He was served as Minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.
Task Force on Rehabilitation of India-returnee Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons is a Bangladesh government task force established to rehabilitate refugees from the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict following the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord.
Naba Bikram Kishore Tripura is one of the prominent government official who holds different position during his government service holder. He was the Chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board. He served as Secretary of Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs from 2011 to 2018.. He served As an Ambassador at Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh) from 2010 to 2011. Before that, he was holding the position of Additional Inspector General. of Bangladesh Police which is the Second in Command on Bangladesh Police.
Government of Bangladesh 
