'Jumma' is the collective name for the eleven tribes of the CHT.
How do they live? The two largest tribes, the 350,000-strong
Chakma and the Marma, are both Buddhist, while other tribes are Hindu,
Christian or practice their own religions. The Hill Tracts are rugged
and steep, making it difficult to grow food. To make best use of the
land, the Jumma tribes practise a form of 'shifting cultivation',
growing food in small parts of their territory, before moving on to
another area and allowing the land to recover. This is known locally as
'Jhum' cultivating, the origin of the term 'Jumma'. The Mru people live
further away from the other Jumma peoples, on the hill-tops. They
generally live in houses built on tall stilts.
What problems do they face? The Bangladesh government has long
seen the Chittagong Hill Tracts as empty land onto which it can move
poor Bengali settlers, with scant regard for the area's Jumma
inhabitants. In the last 60 years, the Jummas have gone from being
practically the sole inhabitants of the Hill Tracts to being almost
outnumbered by settlers. As well as being displaced by the settlers,
who are given the best land, the Jummas have long faced violent
repression from the Bangladesh military. Ever since Bangladesh gained
independence in 1971, the Jummas have experienced waves of murder,
torture and rape, and had their villages burnt down in a genocidal
campaign against them. A Jumma political party, the Jana Samhati
Samiti, with a military wing, was formed in response to these attacks.
In 1997, the Jummas signed a peace deal with the government which put
an end to some of the worst atrocities. However, ten years after the signing of the peace deal, arrests and intimidation of activists, rape of Jumma women and other human rights abuses remain rife. Land continues to be stolen from the Jumma tribal people by both the army, and by settlers who are supported by the government.
How can I help?
Click
here to donate to Survival.
Click
here for a sample letter to send to the Bangladeshi government
Click
here to write to your MP or MEP (UK).
Click
here to write to the President, your senators, congressmen or other elected officials (US).
Write to your local Bangladeshi high commission or embassy, click
here to find out the address. The details for the Bangladesh High Commission in London can be found
here.
How does Survival help? Survival has been working with the
Jumma peoples for many years, protesting against violations of the
Jumma's rights and the violent repression they experience. Survival's
work put pressure on the Bangladesh government, helping to push them
into signing the peace deal in 1997.
A Jumma spokesman told
Survival that,
'Only because of your efforts we have a ray of hope for
our survival. You have brought about a sea change in the situation, now we have
a hope for survival and a chance to reclaim our traditional homeland.'
Although matters have now improved somewhat, the Jummas' problems are not yet
over, and Survival continues to work with the Jummas, calling for the return of
the land stolen from them, an end to military occupation of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts, and some autonomy for the Jumma peoples, so that they can regain control over their land and future.
