The Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students' Council in shortly P*P is only progressive and representative political student organization of the fourteen multilingual indigenous Jumma students of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), south-eastern part of Bangladesh, studying different educational institutions throughout the country. It was formed on 20 May 1989 based on the fundamental principles of Education, Integration, Equality and Progress. The protection and preservation of the basic rights of oppressed and persecuted Jumma peoples of Chittagong Hill Tracts is the core ideology of P*P. Prior to the British colonial invasion, CHT region was historically fully independent area under its own Kingdom. But utter negligence, deprivation, oppression, exclusion and all-round exploitation of the colonial rulers starting with the then British imperial authority followed by Pakistani military rulers and by far, most significantly the successive regimes of Bangladesh, in particular which fuelled to emergence of Jumma nationalism and rights to self determination movement among the Jumma peoples and they formed the first ever and only political party named ‘Parbatya Chattgram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS)’ that has been advancing this movement since 1972. The continual rejection of constitutional recognition of Jumma peoples by then ruling class of Bangladesh, the Parbatya Chattgram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) has started its struggle for ascertaining the demands of the Jumma people and rights to self-determination began in constitutional way. To put down self-determination movement of Jumma peoples, then ruling class of Bangladesh had enforced militarization in CHT through various name like Operation Dig Out (1976-1977), Operation Trident (1977-1979), Operation Punching Tiger (1979-1987), Operation Dabanal (1988-2001) and Operation Uttaran (2001-Present). Beside distractive military operation, then military dictator Ziaur Rahman forcefully settled approximately 400,000 Bengali peoples in 1979 by occupying thousand acres land of Jumma peoples and used them against Jumma peoples. In order to prosecute the program named ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ against Jumma peoples various destructive communal attacks, rapes, burring homes and massacres have been carried out by Military and Bengali settlers jointly since then. The first communal attack and massacre was happened at Kalampati, Kawkhali, Rangamati Hill Tracts on 25 March 1980 by Military and Bengali settlers jointly where more than 600 homes were burnt down and more than three hundreds Jumma peoples had been killed. In this crucial situation of CHT, the Jumma students studying various educational institutions in three hill districts, Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and from all around the country had started to organize to protest the ongoing oppression, exploitation, communal attacks, rapes, massacres operated by
military personals and Bengali settlers. Such a horrible and barbarous massacre was materialized at Longadu, Rangamati Hill Tracts by Village Defense Police (V.D.P) personals and Bengali settlers on 4 May 1989. In this cruel massacre around 6 villages owned by Jumma peoples had been attacked and burnt down by Bengali setters backed by Bangladesh Army and brutally killed more than 36 and hundreds of innocent Jumma peoples had been wounded. Jumma students studying in different educational institutions had come forward to protest this massive attack organizationally and realized to form a political student organization and this was the historical background of founding the Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students Council. room of Rashid Hall in Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) an emergency meeting was held to organize a massive demonstration to protest heinous massacre that had happened in Longadu. Many student representatives from Dhaka University, Chittagong University, Jahangirnaghar University and Dhaka Tribal Hostel were presented there and decided to form a political student organization named ‘Greater Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students Council’. In the following day on 21 May 1989, a silent procession and demonstration was rallied out and thousands of Jumma students from different educational institutions of Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Jahangirnaghar areas participated in this historical procession. At afternoon, a press conference was held to present the convening committee of P*P, Prashanta Tripura as Convener and Bidhan Chakma, Dhiraj Chakma, Shuvashis Chakma, Mong Thowai Marma, Shakti Pada Tripura, Prasit Bikash Khisa were the convening members of P*P that present in this press conference. In later, the first council of P*P was held on 09 July 1989 at Dhaka. A 17 member committee was formed with Bidhan Chakma as President while Dhiraj Chakma and Kerol Chakma as General Secretary and Organizing Secretary respectively which was the first central committee of P*P; a first political student organization during the military regime throughout the country as well as in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Through this political platform of Jumma students the new era of self determination movement begun with new hope and struggle. In addition to the demand to solve the different problems of Jumma students and to establish a common scientific, public-oriented and secular education system Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students Council (P*P) organized the movement to resolve the actual political solution with the constitutional guarantee of the Chittagong Hill Tracts problems since its founding time. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students Council might be viewed as the renewal form of the earlier organization of the indigenous Jumma students. In later, The Greater Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students Council was named into Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students Council in shortly P*P and considered as an associate organization and student wing organization of the Parbatya Chattgram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) involved in struggling for rights to self-determination of the Jumma indigenous peoples in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh and besides its own, having common political aims and objectives with PCJSS.
*Aims and Objectives of the P*P:
(1) To develop the educational, cultural and moral values of Jumma students society as a whole;
(2) To preserve and promote endangered languages, literatures, sports and cultures of Jumma peoples;
(3) To preserve the interests of Jumma students ensure the wellbeing of them;
(4) To promote the expansion of education among fourteen multilingual Jumma students, to maintain brotherhood among fourteen multilingual Jumma peoples and to play vita role in securing existence of Jumma nationals;
(5) To eliminate and erase of discrimination, suppression, exploitation and deprivation among fourteen different multilingual Jumma nations;
(6) To develop the progressive and democratic ideologies among Jumma students and make them progressive;
(7) To organize women freedom movement aiming at establishing right to equity and status of women in the society;
For further more information:
https://chtpcp1989.org/
