UPDF under watch

Law enforcement agencies have been asked to closely watch the activities of the United People's Democratic Front and enhance overall vigilance in the Chittagong Hill Tracts against the backdrop of rising incidents of killings and violence there, said officials. 

'We are not considering a ban on the operation of the UPDF at the moment, but their activities are under close watch because of increased clashes among rival groups in recent days,' home secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder told New Age.

The authorities have, meanwhile, enhanced overall vigilance in the hill districts of Rangamati, Khagrachari and Bandarban, home to various ethnic groups, as the areas are witnessing violent clashes among various groups, including the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity and the UPDF.

The UPDF is opposing the CHT accord signed on December 2, 1997 between the government and the PCJSS that ended nearly two decades of insurgency in the hills.

The PCJSS has long been demanding a ban on the operation of the UPDF, the breakaway faction of PCJSS comprising mostly of students and women activists. The hard-line group has been campaigning against the 1997 accord and demanding total autonomy for the CHT region, one-tenth of the country's total area.

The overall vigilance by law enforcement agencies has also been enhanced to maintain order in the hill districts, the secretary added.

UPDF activist Bijoy Singh Chakma, 25, was shot dead at Jurachari in Rangamati on Sunday morning. The UPDF blamed PCJSS for the killing, a charge denied by the rival organization.

The Jurachari police, quoting local sources said that gunmen, said to be of Jana Sanghati Samiti, had attacked Bijoy when he was coming out of a house at Gilachari with two others early Sunday.

Bijoy died on the spot and one of his companions, Dhanu Chakma, was reportedly abducted.

On May 21, gunmen killed four activists of the UPDF, including its central committee member Animesh Chakma, at Mitigachari of Barkal in Rangamati. The UPDF pointed the finger at PCJSS which denied the charge.

The national committee on implementation of the CHT accord, led by deputy leader of the house Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, is expected to issue directives to settle disputes among various groups, especially over land disputes, senior officials said.

'The government has not initiated any move as yet to resolve the conflicts among different groups,' CHT affairs state minister Dipankar Talukder told New Age.

He said he did not know if the national committee was planning to hold dialogues with the feuding groups.

The latest tensions followed the killing of four Bengali settlers and arson attacks on six villages of ethnic minority people on April 17 over land disputes in Khagrachari.

Violence erupted when Bengali settlers reportedly began clearing forest on 50 acres on a hillock belonging to Marmas.

Source : New Age