The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in a press release on Friday stated that over 100 indigenous peoples were injured in the attacks by the Bangladesh Army at Sajek in Rangamati District of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) yesterday, 22 October 2022 while demanding removal of the armed cadres of the Parbotto Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and the injured are being denied access to medical treatment to prevent the truth from coming out. Sajek is one of the favourite tourist spots of Bangladesh.
Since 11 October 2026, peace loving Buddhists under the banner of the Sajek Gono Odhikar Rokkha Committee and the Sajek Karbari Association have been demanding the removal of the armed cadres of the PCJSS by intermittently blockading the roads. When the blockade resumed on 22 October 2026, the Bangladesh Army personnel instead of removing the PCJSS armed cadres lathi-charged the protestors resulting injuries to the indigenous peoples.
The PCJSS headed by Jyotirindra Bodhipriyo Larma, alias Santu Larma, was an insurgent group formed in 1972 and it has been kept in power of the CHT Regional Council without elections since the signing of the Peace Accord in 1997.
“No country governed by the rule of law and the Constitution should allow the leader of an armed group to head a legally constituted body such as the CHT Regional Council. On 19 October 2026, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman directed State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain to resign after he was caught on camera wielding a firearm during an anti-drug campaign. However, Santu Larma has been kept in power despite his armed cadres being heavily armed with rocket launchers, light machine guns (LMGs), submachine guns (SMGs), AK-47-series rifles, and other weapons.” – stated Mr Tejang Chakma, Head of Research of the ACHR.
Giving further details, Mr Chakma stated, “The PCJSS being armed has been documented in various court judgments like the Gauhati High Court judgment dated 5 September 2024 in the National Investigation Agency v. Rohmingliana regarding the seizure of 31 AK-47 assault rifles, one Singapore-made light machine gun (LMG), one US-made Browning Automatic Rifle, 809 rounds of live ammunition, and 32 magazines from three cadres of the PCJSS in Aizawl, Mizoram and regular independent media reports in Bangladesh and India”.
ACHR called upon the international community to speak out against the PCJSS, a la Wagner Group of Yevgeny Prigozhin, being allowed to run a statutory body such as the CHT Regional Council. This situation in the CHT is not simply a national security issue; it is a matter of applying the Constitution of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Penal Code equally to all groups, especially the PCJSS which remains at the helms of the CHT Regional Council.