Jumma woman killed as tension mounts in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

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A Jumma tribal woman, Chigon Mila Chakma, was killed in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh when settlers attacked Jummas at a market on Wednesday. At least ten Jummas, the Indigenous inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, were injured in the attack.

Sources report that the death of Bengali settler Abdus Sattar triggered the violence, although there is no suggestion that the Jummas who were attacked were involved in his murder. The response appears to have been an indiscriminate attack against the Jumma community because Sattar was last seen carrying two Jumma passengers on his motorbike.

The government of Bangladesh has moved hundred of thousands of settlers into the region, home to eleven tribes, known collectively as Jummas. The settlers have displaced many of the Jumma tribal people, who have also been subjected to violent repression by the army.

The attack comes at a time when the government of Bangladesh has imposed restrictions on the activities of the Jumma peoples. According to new rules, foreign nationals are banned from holding discussions with any Indigenous or religious groups in the region without the presence of a government officer.