Bangladesh has gained independence twice. However, there is no need to reiterate who brought about this recent independence. There are some intricacies involved, but that’s not the main focus here. The question I want to pose briefly is, “Where are Indigenous youths?”
Yesterday’s incident in Rangamati left the indigenous people of the hills deeply disheartened. No one expected to witness such an incident in this new Bangladesh.
Which party is better? Who is right?
To you, perhaps both parties seem good, and that’s why both are still standing today.
I don’t have the answer. I don’t support any party. To me, neither is good.
Let’s take a look back.
Life as a refugee. Forget about studying; getting two meals of rice with salt was not easy. Suddenly, a group of people is going to France. A good country, a good education, and hopes for a bright future. More people would be taken. I was supposed to go in the third group.
I was counting the days at home. Two days felt like two centuries. Suddenly, I got the news that we wouldn’t be going.
The JSS abducted the chairman of the Lebachara Refugee Camp. Like thousands of others, my dreams were shattered. Since then, I harbored a lot of resentment towards the JSS. Many suffered because of that resentment.
I returned to Bangladesh after the Peace Agreement. A new group had formed. Almost all my friends, except a few, had joined. One day, I went to listen to a meeting.
The president of the local committee’s speech did not impress me at all; instead, I found him to be very timid. Despite not having good meals twice a day as a refugee, I grew up reading the books of Bankim, Sarat Chandra and Biography of Subas Chandra Boss. Unlike others, I might not be easily swayed.
The police had caught him. He kicked and fled naked. There’s nothing heroic about that. He saved his life, which is fine. But it should be told in a way that impresses the audience. However, he told it as if he had displayed heroism by escaping.
That day, my desire to join that group ended.
Later, this same group wanted to kill me for my Christian faith. I neither support JSS nor them. My faith was my crime.
Almost three decades have passed, and I have never spoken about this. Even today, I am not writing to blame anyone. I am writing because the situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is changing rapidly.
But who will lead this change for the hill people?
The group that forces people to march in rallies? The group that collects funds, builds mansions and lives in comfort, or someone new, like how Bangladesh recently gained new independence?
No group will have much time. The country’s youth are demanding a nation free from discrimination. They won’t succeed. That’s not possible in Bangladesh.
Do you know why?
If most people in the country are anti-India, anti-Hindu, and anti-indigenous and continue with arson and violence, India will be filled to the brim. Will India accept that?
India missed that opportunity with Afghanistan and Pakistan. This time, it won’t miss it. Parts of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet, and Rangpur will become like Ukraine.
But who is getting the responsibility of the Chittagong Hill Tracts? The youth currently in the Chittagong Hill Tracts need to know this. If they don’t join that group, they might end up like the current Bangladesh police. And those who want to unite the two groups should start today. There is no time. Where are those indigenous youths?
