The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), which is 5,093 sq. miles in extent or 10% of Bangladesh, is a unique territory. While most of the country is flat and a few feet above the sea level, the CHT in the southeast is mountainous with beautiful landscapes. The indigenous hill peoples are also unique with their distinct and different cultures.

Once noted for its ‘majestic natural beauty’, the region has lost much of its original landscape because of ill-conceived development initiatives and human greed. Most of the hills that were covered with thick forests now lie denuded or covered sparsely with bushes and small trees. To many it is no more than a hill park.

The factors that have contributed to this sorry state of the region include: the Kaptai Hydroelectricity Project that has created a massive lake, occupation of the traditional homeland of the indigenous peoples and their subsequent massive displacement, plantations of exotic species, in-migration of the Bengalis, heavy military presence for about three decades, etc. Immoral human actions have broken the chain of nature and put life at risk. One can still be charmed by the spectacular scenic beauty of the Kaptai Lake and the mountain landscapes but this beauty cannot hide the catastrophe caused to the hill people.

In the book, The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Life and Nature at Risk, a host of writers present information, analyses, photographs and arguments on how land, life and nature in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are at risk today. This book intends to provide basic information on the Chittagong Hill Tracts and stimulate discussion around critical issues. It also enhances understanding about the CHT’s unique legal and administrative system that has no parallel in other parts of Bangladesh.

Publication Details

Published: 2000
Language: English
Hardback: 121 pages
Editor: Philip Gain
Price: Tk.500 / US$20

Undercounting of the Adivasis of Bangladesh, grouped in at least 27 communities, is an often-heard complaint. The survey of the Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD) substantiates this complaint. According to the SEHD survey on the Adivasis in five thanas (sub-district) the margin of error in the government population census of 1991 has been found to be 14.89%.

The five thanas covered under the survey are Bhaluka in Mymensingh District, Jhenaigati in Sherpur District, Kamalganj in Moulvibazar District, Ghoraghat in Dinajpur District, and Godagari in Rajshahi District. The survey was conducted from November 1996 to March 1997.

The ethnic communities found in the five thanas are Santal, Monipuri, Oraon, Koch, Garo, Rajbangshi, Munda, Khasi, Paharia, Hajong, Mahato, Tripura, Chakma, and a few other smaller communities.

According to the 1991 census, the total ethnic population in five thanas was enumerated at 43,219, which was 4.8% of the total of 8,98,485 people. If an average population growth is estimated at 2% per annum from 1991 to 1997, the ethnic population in the five thanas would have been 48,403 in 1997. But the SEHD findings in 1997 recorded the ethnic population in the five thanas at 56,872 indicating a margin of error by 14.89%. However, the margin of error is not uniform in all thanas. In Bhaluka the margin is 55.68%, which is 26.96% in Jhenaigati, 18.52% in Kamalganj, and 5.64% in Ghoraghat. The margin of error in Godagari was found to be a negative one [with 2.78%].

The survey also exposes important information about socio-economic conditions of the Adivasis such as their literacy, land question, access to common property, safe drinking water and other necessities.

The SEHD findings recommend that the government authorities responsible for official census take note of the discrepancies in the official census that the SEHD survey has identified so that such discrepancies are eliminated. The SEHD findings also suggest that generation of further information about numbers and socio-economic conditions through study, research, and analysis will play a key role in understanding the Adivasis of Bangladesh.

Publication Details

Published: 2000
Language: English
Paperback: 73 pages
Editors: Philip Gain, Shishir Moral & Snigdha Emelda Tigga
Price: Tk.150 / US$5