THE term ‘Ta-bong’ in the Marma and Rakhain languages refers to prophetic statements made by children, wise individuals, storytellers, or even those considered ‘insane.’ These statements signify predictions of future events. The term derives from the Pali word ‘Tam-bhasa,’ where ‘Tam’ means directive and ‘Bhasa’ means spoken words. Ta-bong can appear in various forms, such as folktales, songs, riddles and poems, often conveyed in rhyming styles for easier oral transmission. Historically, some indigenous peoples have valued these sayings for their foresight, particularly regarding spiritual, political and social events.
One notable folktale among indigenous peoples, including the Chakma, Rakhine, Marma and Khiang, centers on a frog that warns of an impending natural disaster. This warning ultimately caused havoc across both the animal and human kingdoms.
Rong Raang bird’s outcry and unrest across kingdoms
ONCE upon a time, a frog lived in a forest. One day, he travelled to the city and returned after several days. His friend, a tiny bird, welcomed him warmly, and they settled down to chat.
‘Friend,’ the Frog said excitedly, ‘I have very important news!’
‘Really? What news?’ the bird asked eagerly.
The Frog replied:
A storm is coming, fierce and wide,
The earth shall tremble with the tide.
The wild potato, buried low,
Shall split in seven as tempests blow.
The ladies of the hills will leave their heights,
Plains-born ladies climb new heights.
The world of humans, torn and sore,
Shall fracture into four.
And when the winds rage wild and free,
And all seems lost in sky and sea,
The small ones may yet survive,
If with the mighty they take refuge to thrive.
The small bird felt anxious after hearing the news. However, when the storm hit and the Rong Raang, a mythical bird from imagination, emitted its familiar squawk from a tree, the small bird reacted quickly. It dove directly into the Rong Raang’s gaping mouth and emerged through its tail. Startled, the Rong Raang let out a shriek of alarm, its cry echoing throughout the forest and triggering a chain reaction:
A monkey, frightened by the cry, dropped a stolen pumpkin, which landed on a sleeping python. The furious python swallowed a nearby hen’s eggs. Grieving, the hen destroyed an ant nest. The angry ants swarmed out and bit a pig in a sensitive spot. The pig bolted, wrecking a widow’s rice field. Heartbroken and furious, the widow marched straight to the king to demand justice.
The king summoned each creature to explain their actions. Each detailed their part, tracing the cause back to earlier incidents. Eventually, the trail led to the Rong Raang, the little bird, and finally to the Frog, whose advice had set the chaos in motion. Believing the Frog responsible, the king ordered him tied to a jackfruit tree and punished.
Initially meant to entertain children a hundred years ago, this folktale reveals the ancient seers and storytellers’ consciousness of an impending political crisis. This crisis involves a significant influx of Bengali settlers into lands traditionally held by indigenous communities, resulting in widespread displacement and eviction of these indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands. The situation aligns with the Frog’s prophecy: ‘The ladies of the hills will leave their heights, and Plains-born ladies will climb new heights.’ The story thus serves as a symbolic record of the hardships caused by oppressive state policies.
On the other hand, instead of uniting against these policies, various opportunistic and adventurist groups have emerged, causing the indigenous peoples to fragment into multiple political and ethnic factions. This fragmentation is the result of a ‘divide and rule’ policy and makes them vulnerable, just as the wild potato splits underground, as foretold by the Frog. According to the Frog’s prediction: ‘The world of humans, torn and sore, shall fracture into four,’ the administrative structure of the CHT has become more complex than that of lowland Bangladesh. This complexity includes multiple administrative bodies: the traditional administrative system comprising circle chief and other traditional leaders; a special administrative system comprising Hill District Councils and the CHT Regional Council; district administration (Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, Upazila Nirbahi Officer); local governments (Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad); and military oversight through Operation Uttaran. This intricate structure often leads to political and administrative challenges as various interests intersect.
When freedom brought fear: crisis after 1971
BANGLADESH gained independence in December 1971, but this event brought turmoil to the CHT. Instead of experiencing peace, indigenous people faced violence, displacement and marginalisation. Elements of the Mukti Bahini entered the CHT with ethnic hostility, leading to massacres in the areas of Panchari, Dighinala and Kukichara. Indigenous families endured looting, arson and sexual violence, forcing many to flee into the forests while Bengali Muslim migrants occupied traditional indigenous peoples’ lands.
Indigenous leaders had hoped that the new state would recognise their distinct identity and protect their ancestral lands. However, the government adopted an assimilationist approach, denying the indigenous people’s unique status. Increased militarisation in early 1972 prompted indigenous leaders to unify politically, forming the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti on February 15, 1972, under the leadership of MN Larma.
Failure of constitutional recognition
INDIGENOUS peoples’ representatives presented a four-point charter to then prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, demanding regional autonomy, constitutional safeguards, protection of the chieftainship system and consent for any constitutional changes in the CHT. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman rejected the demands for a distinct identity for the CHT and called for the elimination of its special status as outlined in the 1972 constitution. Objections raised by MN Larma were dismissed as separatist, underscoring the ethnic marginalisation experienced by the indigenous peoples in the region.
The Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti won two parliamentary seats in 1973 but failed to secure any constitutional changes. Rising frustration, along with state-encouraged Bengali migration, led the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti to shift from peaceful activism to armed resistance, forming the Shanti Bahini, its armed wing, and establishing a parallel administration in parts of the CHT.
Militarisation, demographic engineering and human rights violations
DURING the 1970s and 1980s, Bangladesh underwent intensified militarisation and demographic engineering under the leadership of Ziaur Rahman and HM Ershad. Over 400,000 Bengali settlers were resettled into the region, seizing Indigenous peoples’ lands and altering the region’s demographics. Military networks restricted the movement of Indigenous peoples and emphasised counter-insurgency measures.
The CHT experienced killings, enforced disappearances, evictions and significant displacement, with over 70,000 refugees fleeing to India. Forced relocations into ‘cluster villages’ and state-backed harassment undermined Indigenous peoples’ self-governance. Development initiatives favoured military infrastructure and the Bengali settlers, while media narratives portrayed the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti as terrorists.
Dialogue attempts and CHT accord
Initially, political dialogue between the Government of Bangladesh and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti) showed little progress. During Ziaur Rahman’s rule, there were a few informal contacts, but state-sponsored settlement programs continued without pause. Under HM Ershad, formal negotiations began, and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti submitted a five-point proposal; however, the government ultimately rejected it. During Khaleda Zia’s administration (1991–1996), thirteen rounds of talks led to a draft proposal for regional autonomy, yet there was a lack of political will to finalise an agreement. After 26 rounds of negotiations, the historic Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord was finally signed on December 2, 1997, during the tenure of the Awami League government. For the first time, the accord formally recognised the CHT as a region inhabited by indigenous peoples.
The agreement aimed to establish lasting political and administrative reforms in the CHT. It called for the creation of a Land Commission to resolve land disputes and restore dispossessed lands to Indigenous communities. Additionally, it proposed empowering Hill District Councils by transferring administrative powers, forming a CHT Regional Council as an overarching body, and establishing a Ministry of CHT Affairs, headed by an indigenous minister.
The sccord also committed the government to key measures, such as withdrawing temporary military camps and ending special military rule, rehabilitating internally displaced persons and refugees returning from India, preparing a voter list based solely on permanent residents and holding elections for the Hill District Councils and the national parliament based on that list. An Accord Implementation Committee was formed to oversee and monitor the progress of these commitments. However, after almost 3 decades, these promises remain largely neglected.
Although the Accord is widely regarded as a model for conflict resolution, its implementation has been incomplete. Progress has been hindered by opposition from political, military and religious groups, limited government commitment, bureaucratic hurdles, and ongoing demographic challenges, leaving indigenous communities vulnerable and frustrated.
The previous Awami League government claimed that 65 of 72 clauses of the agreement had been fully implemented, while the remaining seven were either partially implemented or in the process of implementation. In contrast, the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti reported that only 25 of the 72 clauses had been fully implemented, 18 had been partially implemented and 29 clauses had not been implemented at all. They also noted that many of these clauses had been regularly violated.
Following the July uprising, the interim government reconstituted the CHT Accord Implementation and Monitoring Committee and planned meetings for the Land Dispute Resolution Commission and the Task Force on the Rehabilitation of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons. However, pressures from Bengali settler groups obstructed these meetings, leading to their postponement.
In contrast, a group of 33 eminent citizens, including leading human rights activists, academics and civil society leaders, expressed strong concern over the postponement of the CHT Land Dispute Resolution Commission meeting scheduled for October 19, 2025. They condemned this decision, highlighting that despite the commission’s existence for 24 years and over 26,000 pending applications, meaningful progress on land dispute resolution has repeatedly been obstructed by vested interests, including groups allegedly backed by influential segments of the government. The citizens criticised the commission’s leadership and law enforcement authorities for yielding to pressure from the Rangamati Conscious Citizens Society, which threatened to cancel the meeting.
They underscored the rising communal attacks, land grabs, violence against indigenous communities and growing insecurity despite heavy militarisation. The signatories demanded an independent investigation to identify those responsible for sabotaging the commission’s work and called for accountability to ensure lasting peace and justice in the CHT.
On the other hand, speakers at a recent Dhaka discussion warned that unfulfilled promises and a culture of impunity have deepened the crisis in the CHT, even 27 years after the CHT Accord. Citing data from the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti and the Kapaeeng Foundation, they reported over 9,000 documented indigenous victims of killings, abductions, sexual violence, and other rights violations since 1998, along with the loss of more than 3.34 lakh acres of indigenous land through leases, militarization, forest declarations, and tourism projects. They criticised the persistence of majoritarian attitudes, the state’s refusal to recognise Indigenous peoples’ identity and the erosion of rights guaranteed under the accord. Speakers also condemned land grabs disguised as tourism, exclusion of Indigenous and women’s voices from policymaking and the lack of accountability for extrajudicial violence. They called for an UN-led probe, constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples, documentation of rights violations and a time-bound plan for accord implementation, warning that without political will, the crisis in the CHT will continue to worsen.
Lessons from the prophecy
THE narrative of the CHT since 1971 reflects a complex interplay of nationalism, marginalisation, militarisation and political exclusion. Although the 1997 accord marked a historic milestone, its incomplete implementation has perpetuated instability, mistrust and structural inequalities in the region.
The folktale of the frog, with its prophetic warning and the ensuing chaos, symbolically mirrors this history. Just as the frog foresaw the coming storm, indigenous leaders and activists have anticipated political crises, warned their communities and faced persecution for their foresight. This story illustrates patterns of displacement, marginalisation, vulnerability and the urgent need for collective protection, reflecting the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples.
Ultimately, the history of the CHT is one of both struggle and resilience, highlighting ongoing challenges in safeguarding Indigenous peoples’ rights, preserving cultural identity, and fostering inclusive governance in Bangladesh. As the prophecy foretells, ‘The small ones may yet survive,
If with the mighty they take refuge to thrive’ it is imperative that the majority population, including civil society, progressive political forces in the country and international community play a crucial role in ensuring the political, cultural and economic rights of Indigenous peoples. By doing so, their continued existence, rights and dignity can be secured in the face of political adversity.
Milinda Marma is an indigenous writer and activist.
