Jumma people

Not to be confused with Juma people.

The Jumma people (Bengali: জুম্ম জনগোষ্ঠী) is a term usually referred to the minority tribal group of people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh, who claim a separate state called Jumma Land. They include the Chakma, Arakanese (Rakhine), Marma, Tripuri, Tanchangya, Chak, Pankho, Mru, Bawm, Lushai, Khyang, and Khumi.^[1][2]

Members of Jumma militia in Khagrachari, 1994

The name Jumma ("jum farmer") is derived from jum cultivation, or the slash-and-burn method rain forest & razed hill farming .^[3] They are also known as Pahari, which simply means "hill people".^[4]

With the exception of the relatively well-integrated Chakma, Jumma people are native speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages, unrelated to the Bengali language spoken by ethnic Bengalis. They are religiously and culturally distinct as well, with most being Buddhist, some Hindu, and some are converted Christians and Muslims. In addition, they have retained some traditional religious practices.^[5]

History

Pakistan Period

During the construction of the Kaptai Dam, more than 18,000 families and 100,000 tribal people were evicted by then Pakistani president Ayub Khan without appropriate resettlement facilities or compensation.^[6] More than 40,000 Chakma tribals emigrated to Arunachal Pradesh, India.^[7][8] Consequently, the Jumma people began a grudge against the government due to their distress.^[9]

Bangladesh Liberation War

In 1971, most of the Jumma tribes were neutral or in support of Bangladeshi independence, with the exception of the majority of the Chakma people, who were against the independence of Bangladesh under the leadership of Chakma circle chief Raja Tridev Roy.

Independent Bangladesh

Between 1978 and 1990, the ruling military junta government saw the Jumma people (including Chakmas) as traitors and a potential risk for an independent Bangladesh. Allegedly, 400,000 Bengali homeless people were relocated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts with homes, arable land, and food rationing.^[10] It causes tension between Bengali & tribal groups. Between 1979 and 1997, over 15 major conflict took place between Bengali Muslim and minority tribes where government agencies have allegation to support Bengali people.^[10] Due to the outbreaks of violence, communal and social unrest, many fled to the Indian states of Mizoram and Tripura, or to Burma .^[10]

Peace negotiations were initiated in 1996 by prime minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The peace accord was finalized and formally signed on 2 December 1997.^[11]

References

1. পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রামে মাথাচাড়া দিয়ে উঠছে ‘স্বাধীন জুম্মল্যান্ড’ সংগ্রাম | সারাদেশ | The Daily Ittefaq. The Daily Ittefaq. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
2. Van Schendel, Willem (2001). Willem van Schendel, Erik J. Zurcher (ed.). Identity Politics in Central Asia and the Muslim World. I.B.Tauris. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-86064-261-6.
3. Roy, Rajkumari Chandra Kalindi (2000). Land Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. IWGIA. p. 28. ISBN 978-87-90730-29-1.
4. International Labour Office (2000). Traditional occupations of indigenous and tribal peoples: Emerging trends. International Labour Organization. p. 78. ISBN 978-92-2-112258-6.
5. Samaddar, Ranabir (2003-07-04). Refugees and the State: Practices of Asylum and Care in India. SAGE Publications. p. 251. ISBN 978-81-321-0377-6.
6. . Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
7. Chakravarty, Ipsita. "50 years on, Chakma refugees from Bangladesh are still denied citizenship rights in Arunachal". Scroll.in. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
8. "How Chakmas and Hajongs settled in North East, why Arunachal worries about citizenship". The Indian Express. 20 September 2017.
9. . Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2007.
10. I, Fonkem Achankeng (2015-09-28). Nationalism and Intra-State Conflicts in the Postcolonial World. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-1-4985-0026-5.
11. Majumder, Shantanu (2012). "Parbatya Chattagram Jana-Samhati Samiti". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.