Nathan Bom

Last updated
Nathan Bom
Born1980
Ruma upazila, Bandarban, Bangladesh
Allegiance Kuki-Chin National Front
Service/branch Kuki-Chin National Army
Years of service2022–present
Battles/wars Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict

Nathan Lancheo Bom [1] is a Bawm politician and militant leader from Chittagong Hill Tracts who has been serving as the founding president of the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), as well as the leader of the Kuki-Chin National Army (KNA). [2] He founded KNF in 2017. Since then, his location remains unknown. [3]

Contents

Biography

Bom was born in 1980 [3] at Edenpara, Ruma upazila. [1] His father, Jaotan Loncheo Bom, was a Jhum farmer and mother, Raukil Bom, was a homemaker. [1] He is the youngest among the six siblings, five brothers and one sister. [1]

Bom went to Dhaka after this Secondary School Certificate examination. [1] He passed his Higher Secondary Certificate examination from Dhaka College. [1] In 1996, he earned his masters degree from Dhaka University Faculty of Fine Arts, making him the first from the Bawm community to attain such. [1]

He was associated with politics from a young age. He was a member of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS)'s youth wing. In 2000, Bom set up a sculpture of Manabendra Narayan Larma at Khagrachhari town. [3] He is a former member of Hill Artists Group. [4]

In the 2018 Bangladesh general elections, Bom become the first politician from the Bawm community to collect nomination paper for 300th Jatiya Sangsad constituency. However, his nomination paper was rejected. [3] [2]

He wrote five research treatises [4] and a book about Bawm community, named The Bawmjow. [3]

Bom is married. His wife Lelsom Kim Bom is a staff nurse working at local government health complex, [1] [5] [6] although other sources say that she is a school teacher. [3] [4] The couple has at least one child, [3] with some sources reporting two, [1] with the elder son studying at Aizwal of Mizoram, India. [1]

Views

Bom bears a strong anti-Chakma sentiment. He believes that Chakmas exercise a domination or hierarchy over the other tribes of Chittagong Hill Tracts. He considers Kuki-Chins (Zo people) to be the Bhumiputro (Son of the soil) of the tribal region of Chittagong Hill Tracts. [4] [7] He proposed a state for the Kuki-Chins in the Chittagong Hill Tracts either autonomous or independent where there will be no place for Chakmas, along with Marmas & Tripuris. [7] He is also a critique of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti for not representing the tribes of Chittagong Hill Tracts equally, which may came to be influenced by his Chakma hatred. [7]

Political experts find his anti-Chakma roots in 2003 when he applied for a job at a local project of United Nations Development Program (UNDP), but he got rejected and some Chakma youths got that job. Bom believed that he wasn't given the job for being an ethnic minority and Chakma people's outnumbering his community, which made him to be hostile towards the Chakmas. [4] [7]

Kuki-Chin National Front

In 2008, Bom founded an NGO named Kuki-Chin National Development Organization (KNDO), which "carried out philanthropic activities including greening of vast forest areas in the hills, conservation of animals and birds and natural beauty." [1]

In 2016, he launched an armed group named Kuki-Chin National Volunteers (KNV). In 2017, KNV changed its name to Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF). [3] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanti Bahini</span> Buddhist terrorist organisation in Bangladesh

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti</span> Bangladeshi political party

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bandarban District</span> District in Chittagong Division, Bangladesh

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manabendra Narayan Larma</span> Bangladeshi politician

Manabendra Narayan Larma, also known as M.N. Larma, was a Jumma Chakma politician and member of parliament of Bangladesh. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma</span> Bangladeshi politician

Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma is a Bangladeshi Chakma politician and one of the main leaders of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS). He also headed the Shanti Bahini militia until it was disarmed in 1997. He is the brother of late Chakma parliamentarian and PCJSS founder Manabendra Narayan Larma. He is also the president of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum and Chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Welfare Association was a clandestine political organisation created in East Pakistan in December 1966 to defend the rights of the tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

Charu Bikash Chakma is a Bangladeshi Chakma politician who was one of the senior leaders of the political movement of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and co-founder of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti. He was an Awami League candidate in the 1970 Pakistani general election but lost to Manabendra Narayan Larma, his close friend. He met the government of independent Bangladesh in December 1971 in a failed bid to secure constitutional safeguards for indigenous people of Bangladesh. He was a leader of the Chakma Jubak Samity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict</span> Conflict between the Bangladeshi government and tribal insurgents

The Insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts refers to a political and armed conflict that occurred in Bangladesh in two phases:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bawm people</span> Ethnic community in Bangladesh

The Bom, Bawm or Bawmzo, are an ethnic community inhabiting the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. According to the 2022 Bangladeshi census the population of Bawms in Bangladesh is 13,193. In 2004, around 10,000 Bawm inhabited India. 2,500 Bawms reside in Myanmar. They speak the Sino-Tibetan Bawm language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jumma people</span> Tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts

The Jumma people is a term usually referred to the minority tribal group of people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh, who used to claim a separate state called Jummaland. They include the Chakma, Arakanese (Rakhine), Marma, Tripuri, Tanchangya, Chak, Pankho, Mru, Bawm, Lushai, Khyang, and Khumi.

Bawm or Bawm Zo, also known as Banjogi, is a Kuki-Chin language primarily spoken in Bangladesh. It is also spoken in adjacent regions of Northeast India and Myanmar. The Bawms that live on the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh call their settlements "Bawmram", which literally means an area or location inhabited by Bawms.

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.

Dighinala Cantonment is a cantonment in Dighinala, outside of Khagrachari. 24th Infantry Division of Bangladesh Army inhabit here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangamati Science and Technology University</span> Bangladeshi university

Rangamati Science and Technology University is a public university located in Rangamati, Bangladesh, commonly known as RMSTU. It was established in 2014.

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.

Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council is the local government body responsible for the welfare and some administrations of the Chittagong Hill Tracts districts, which include Bandarban District, Khagrachari District, and Rangamati Hill District, in Bangladesh and is located in Dhaka, Rangamati. Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma also known as Santu Larma is the Chairman of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council. He is also the chairman of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti.

Chakma or Changma is an Indian and Bangladeshi surname that may refer to

Birendra Kishore Roaza was a Tripuri social activist and politician who represented the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the 1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election. He was the first Jumma member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly.

Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), also known as Bom Party or Bawm Party, is a banned ethno-nationalist armed militant political organization in Bangladesh based in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Established by Nathan Bom in 2008, KNF aims to establish a separate autonomous or independent state for Bawm, Pangkhua, Lushai, Khumi, Mru & Khiang peoples with nine subdistricts (upazilas) of Rangamati and Bandarban districts. The Front has an armed wing called Kuki-Chin National Army. According to Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies, Kuki-Chin National Front has received weapons from the Kachin State in Myanmar, and also has ties with Karen rebels.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Who is this Nathan Bom, the terror of the mountains?". Barta24.com. 10 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 Pakbir, Mir Mosharref Hossain. "Kuki-Chin National Army: A fierce regional threat in sight". Daily Observer. Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "কে এই নাথান বম?". Bangla Tribune (in Bengali). Archived from the original on October 29, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "পাহাড়ে রহস্যময় নাম 'নাথান বম'". Archived from the original on May 5, 2024.
  5. ↑ Bandarban, Correspondent. "2 including KNF chief Nathan Bom's wife transferred". en.prothomalo.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  6. ↑ "Wife of KNF chief, also nurse at Ruma hospital, transferred". The Daily Star. 2024-04-11. Archived from the original on May 31, 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  7. 1 2 3 4 http://www.itvbd.com/analysis/141797 Archived May 7, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Who are these Kuki-Chin armies in the CHT?". www.dhakatribune.com. 2023-01-17. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
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