Re: [ALOCHONA] Why the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Conflict should not be Christianized

Trust the Goebbelsian Isha to come up with such nonsense. Can the Goebbelsian Isha provide some concrete evidence of christianization as a problem. Not just one or two small scale incidents but how this is a central issue in CTG Hill Tracts!!

-----Original Message-----
From: Isha Khan
Sent: Mar 23, 2010 2:33 AM
To: dhakamails@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Why the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Conflict should not be Christianized

 

Why the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Conflict should not be Christianized

By Sujan Tanchangya, Sri Lanka

The recent CHT violence, which was one of its worst, drew the widest international condemnation in the history of the CHT conflict. It was also one of the fastest spread and thoroughly covered incidents in the digital world with photos of burnt and razing houses, temples and church, bullet-ridden bodies, attacking scenes, and vandalized Buddha statues posted onto the internet in no time. Sheik Hasina's government continues to face international and diplomatic pressure on a proper investigation into the violence and on the full implementation of the 1997 CHT Peace Accord.The way the EU and the Western human rights organizations condemned the attack by Christianizing the incident is not really how the secular peoples of Bangladesh and the majority Jumma Buddhist people would like it to be viewed

Such a commendable international concern has been partially generated by the progressive Jumma indigenous expatriates who brought out massive worldwide demonstrations and protests against the attack in the world's major cities like Dhaka, New Delhi, Colombo, Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo, Sydney, London, Toronto, New York, San Francisco, California, Paris, Geneva and elsewhere. It was for the first time such worldwide demonstrations in front of the UN headquarters in Bangkok, New York and Geneva were held by the Jumma expatriates, successfully drawing the international attention to the long CHT conflict and demanding a permanent end to such continuous heinous attack on the Jumma indigenous communities on their ancestral lands. Secondly, the Bangladeshi media together with various local human rights and civil organizations has played its due role by covering the incident in a fairly impartial way paving and generating immense sympathy and popular support for the cause of peace and stability in the CHT among the popular masses in Bangladesh.

That the present AL government faces a two-front pressure from home and abroad to bring permanent peace and stability in the hills puts the CHT issue in a very favorable and fertile ground for preventing re-occurrence of such atrocities for once and all by implementing the CHT Peace Accord in no time. That the anti-peace accord tribal organization United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF) has also expressed its support for such a full implementation takes everything to a new level.

However, serious concern has also been expressed by some section of Bangladeshi political and religious circles against a vested quarter for Christianizing the recent violence and portraying it as a sole religious conflict. Though one cannot deny the fact that had the jumma indigenous people been Muslims, such attacks on their properties and lands would not have taken place, majority would believe that Christianizing the CHT conflict would do more harm than good to the on-going peace initiatives. Such worldwide news headlines like "Christian homes, lives destroyed in tribal fight", "Christian Churches attacked by Bengali Muslim settlers" and "EU says Bangladesh must curb violence against Buddhists and Christians" do much harm to one of the most sensitive issues of Bangladesh. We must note here that one Baptist church came under arson attack along with another 2/3 Buddhist temples in the recent Baghaihat violence.

The way the EU and the Western human rights organizations condemned the attack by Christianizing the incident is not really how the secular peoples of Bangladesh and the majority Jumma Buddhist people would like it to be viewed. Why the CHT conflict should not be Christianized is because, first of all, the majority jumma Buddhists have already been resenting at the various evangelical Christian missionaries trying to convert the indigenous Buddhists and animists into Christianity and secondly, perhaps more importantly, the image of Christians is not very good in the eyes of Muslims. That Bangladesh is a Muslim country means any attempt to portray the CHT conflict as Muslims Vs Christians would be very devastating. Though the majority of the Jumma indigenous peoples are Buddhists and the Bengali settlers are Muslims, majority of Bangladeshis view the CHT conflict as ethnic and give moral support in the preservation of indigenous cultures and traditions and not as religious whatsoever. And that is exactly how most people would like it to be.

However, one cannot stop noticing that the EU and the West became more serious and critical about the CHT violence because one of their Christian Churches and some members of their community have been under attack and that report has been widely reported in online newspapers attracting evangelical Christians' sympathies and concern. There now would be people who would take advantage of this kind of Christianized violence to draw popular support and fund from Christian countries to finance various evangelical NGOs working in the CHTs. The CHT has been under intense NGO development projects for decades, but one cannot see any tangible developments happening in the hills. The only thing that is very visible in the remote hills is that a number of minor ethnic groups have been completely evangelized and a considerable number of Chakmas have also been victims of such evangelism. Some of such evangelized ethnic groups from the hills have been colorfully featured in a latest international evangelical book titled – "The Peoples of the Buddhist World, A Christian Prayer Guide Book". The sensitive problem between the Buddhists and the evangelized Christians could rise into serious conflict if the CHT conflict is seen merely as Christian.

Yet, the greatest protest would come from the majority Muslims of the country if the CHT conflict continues to be portrayed as such. BNP with its Islamic allies which already opposes the Peace Accord could draw massive support for its so-called patriotic opposition against any concession to the CHT indigenous peoples if and when the present AL government is forced to give into perceived Christianized pressure and demands. One cannot be with the wishful thinking that secular AL would be in power always. In a country like Bangladesh where the winner takes everything, the BNP could undo anything that the AL did when it comes to power with regard to the CHT issue. The CHT Jumma peoples are already labeled as Indian puppets by some anti-India sections of Bangladesh. The Jumma people don't certainly want to see another label like "Christian puppets" tagged behind their backs complicating the already tense situation.

Therefore, the EU and the West should minimize their Christian rhythm when referring to the CHT conflict, thus reducing the already complex and complicated situation and should not give any indication that they are concerned about the CHT on the basis of attacks on "Buddhists and Christians", because religious conflicts can be more complicated and sensitive. People should realize that the CHT jumma indigenous peoples enjoy popular support and sympathies from their progressive and secular Bengali brothers and sisters not because they are religiously different but because they are ethnically different, indigenous or tribal. For peace and stability to be permanently established in the hills, the support of the general people of Bangladesh is extremely important, even much more important and crucial than the international pressure and support. Given the geographical location and political involvement, we believe that the rights, the dignity and the very existence of the jumma indigenous peoples of CHT would be better preserved under internationally established indigenous laws rather than trying to save them under perceived Christianized pressure and demands.

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The writer (E mail : sujantcg@gmail.com) is a freelance writer and a jumma activist currently based in Colombo

http://newsfrombangladesh.net/view.php?hidRecord=310282

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