By
Zubeida Nasreen

Translated by
Tazreena Sajjad


[ Drishtipat Writer's Collective has been successfully publishing op-eds in two major English dailies in Bangladesh almost on a weekly basis. A second front of this collectives work is to translate important Bangla columns into English and make it available for a wider global audience. Here is one such effort by collective member Tazreena Sajjad. Tazreena translated a Daily Shamokal article on recent Hill Tract Kidnapping and have permission from the author to publish it here. ]

Information about incidents in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is not easily accessible. Many things taking place there remain unknown to the majority of the Bangladeshi population, or remains impossible to be made public despite existing discourses that we have access to. Thus far, we have used the Chittagong Hill Tracts as a “punishment transfer zone” for government officials, an act paralleling banishment of those disapproved of by the British Empire to the Andaman Islands.

This was the case with the police superintendent Kohinoor Mia, who was directly associated with heinous acts during the last days of the coalition government. He was transferred to Rangamati, but the local population refused to accept his office. Why should this region be
used only for the transfer of individuals guilty of criminal acts? Why should the people of this region suffer the so-called services of those with corrupt records?

The people of Chittagong Hill Tracts have already been deprived of mobile phone networks for years. It is difficult to comprehend why the region is denied mobile connections when mobile networks are available only fifteen minutes away in Meghla. I have asked many people about
the rationale behind this. While a few have cited complications relating to establishing towers in hilly areas, most gave vague explanations of the hill areas as a “crime zone” and “an insurgent spot,” which raises questions about state and nationality. It leads us to the conclusion that providing mobile services to the Hill Tracts poses a security risk to our nation.

This logic cannot be acceptable to any of us. After all, the highest number of crimes is committed not in the Hill Tracts, but in Dhaka city. Following this argument to its
logical conclusion, the first place where mobile networks should be shut down is in Dhaka. Recently there is a renewed discussion about giving permits for mobile networks in CHT, on the assumption that the caretaker government will soon issue these permits.

Recent events illustrate another reality in the Hill Tracts. In the last week of June a DANIDA official and his driver was kidnapped from Kebuhree of Thanchi upazila, Bandarban. Different security agencies cooperated to rescue the driver, but DANIDA official Hussein Shaheed
Shumon is still missing. In the past decades, many indigenous boys, girls and brave women like Kalpana, as well as three foreigners were kidnapped in CHT. The execution of each of these kidnapping and their subsequent rescue efforts has been distinct. Despite kidnappings being
rampant throughout the country, the special location and attention garnered by this particular incident in the hilly Thanchi region, highlights that the manner and method of the kidnapping and the nature of suspects is strikingly different.

Quoting official sources, the media is providing information about this kidnapping like all other kidnappings. The purpose of this article is not to question the veracity of the media coverage. Logic says that without a doubt it is a ploy to cover up the reality. In the
interim, this recent incident has given rise to a heightened apprehension of arrests, and a climate of intimidation in the entire Chittagong Hill Tracts. So far, there have been thirteen arrests. The detainment of these locals has further contributed to an environment
of fear that prevents cooperation with security forces. On one hand, it is hampering the investigation and collection of evidence. On the other, there is room for speculation that these arrests are based on suspicion may again inflame nationalist sentiments. We unequiovocally hope for Shumon’s immediate and safe rescue. But the security forces
also need to be vigilant in handling this kind of sensitive issue in a region, which is inhabited by people of different ethnicities. No one should be harmed on the basis of suspicion alone. We all hope that the stage has not been set for more incidents like this in the future.