DU Correspondent :
A group of Dhaka University (DU) students staged a demonstration on Friday, calling for increased safety for Bengali citizens in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) amid escalating violence.
The students condemned the attacks, killings, looting, and shootings allegedly carried out by local armed groups, accusing them of trying to destabilise the region with the goal of creating a separate state.
The protesters demanded that the Army take a stronger role in ensuring the safety of ordinary citizens in the CHT, advocating for an increase in the number of Army camps in areas at risk.
They also called for legal action against local armed groups and emphasised the need to recover all types of illegal weapons.
Over one hundred students participated in the rally, held at the university’s anti-terrorist Raju sculpture memorial under the banner of Students for Sovereignty.
The students alleged that the indigenous population in the CHT is attempting to establish a country called “Jumland” by separating the region from Bangladesh.
The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Somotoley Khobor De, Jumland ar Kobor De” (Send news to the plains, Jumland’s grave awaits), “We are all Bangladeshi, no one is tribal,” and “Those who claim to be tribals are enemies of Bangladesh.”
The students also demanded justice for Mamun, who was allegedly beaten to death by local tribal groups in Khagrachari.
Minhaz Touki, a DU student, highlighted the ongoing discrimination faced by Bengali citizens in the CHT, stating, “None of the Bengalis can become chairman in several departments, including district councils in these three hill districts. We are living there like hostages.”
Touki further criticised the historical mistreatment of Bengalis in the area, adding, “This is not new; the tribal community has been staging such acts since 1973.
Initially, there was no military presence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, but the Army was deployed when the police force became unsafe due to attacks by local terrorist forces.”
He concluded by calling for increased Army activity to ensure the safety of all Bengalis in the CHT and protect Bangladesh’s sovereignty. “The Army must take decisive action to prevent all terrorist activities in the region,” Touki stated.