The Chittagong Hill Tracts, often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, refers to the three hilly districts within the Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar (Burma) in the east: Khagrachhari, Rangamati, and Bandarban. Covering 13,295 square kilometres (5,133 sq mi), CHT is a extensively hilly area and home to a variety of tribal peoples in Bangladesh. The CHT were divided by the British in the 19th century into three tribal chieftaincies, the Chakma Circle, the Mong Circle and the Bohmong Circle. They formed a single district until 1984, when they were divided into three separate districts.
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.
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.
Bandarban District, officially Bandarban Hill District, 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.
Khagrachhari District, officially Khagrachhari Hill District, is a district in the Chittagong Division of Southeastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region.
Agriculture is the largest employment sector in Bangladesh, making up 14.2 percent of Bangladesh's GDP in 2017 and employing about 42.7 percent of the workforce. As of the financial year 2022 to 2023, the agricultural sector contributed to more than 12% of GDP. The performance of this sector has an overwhelming impact on major macroeconomic objectives like employment generation, poverty alleviation, human resources development, food security, and other economic and social forces. A plurality of Bangladeshis earn their living from agriculture. Due to a number of factors, Bangladesh's labour-intensive agriculture has achieved steady increases in food grain production despite the often unfavorable weather conditions. These include better flood control and irrigation, a generally more efficient use of fertilisers, as well as the establishment of better distribution and rural credit networks.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board is a government agency established in 1978 by the then President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman in response to the rise of the Shanti Bahini insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Eastern Bangladesh. As of 2021, Supradip Chakma is the chairman of this development board.
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 Bangladesh Armed Forces award medals and their associated ribbon bars in recognition of various levels of service, personal accomplishments and commemorative events while a regular serviceperson is a member of the Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy and the Bangladesh Air Force. Together with military badges, such awards are a means to outwardly display the highlights of a serviceperson's career.
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.
Rangamati Medical College (RmMC) is a public medical school located in Rangamati, Bangladesh. The college is established in 2014. It admits 51 students every year. It offers 5 years course on Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery which is directed under Chittagong Medical University.
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.
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 Bangladesh Secretariat is the administrative headquarters of the Government of Bangladesh, and houses the majority of ministries and government agencies and bodies, located in Segunbagicha, Dhaka. The secretariat can refer to the complex of ministries, or refer to the Bangladesh Civil Service central administration. Its political heads are the ministers while the administrative heads are the Secretaries to the Government. The Secretariat complex was originally constructed as the Secretariat of East Pakistan.
Chittagong Custom House is a Bangladesh government regulatory agency under the Ministry of Finance responsible for collecting tariffs and costume duty in Chittagong City and Chittagong Port. M. Fakhrul Alam is the head of the Chittagong Custom House.
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 a government official. He was the chairman of the 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 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2011. Before that, he held the position of additional inspector general of the Bangladesh Police, which is the second in command within the organization.
Md Mozammel Haque Khan is the former senior secretary and the former commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission. He is president of both the Bangladesh Scouts and the Bangladesh Karate Federation.
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.
Chief Adviser 
