Beginnings
Amida Trust members became aware of the problems of the Chakma people in 1998 when we received a plea for help from Sakya Talukdar, a Chakma living in India, who wrote to us about the plight of his people. In due course we invited Sakya to visit Britain which he did in the summer of 1999. In the winter of 2000 Dharmavidya paid a return visit to Assam as guest of Sakya's family and of The Friendly Society. The Friendly Society is an association of Chakmas in Guwahati, the capital of Assam. On this visit he was able to make a fully appraisal of the situation of the Chakmas in India. The Trust has provided financial for some projects initiated by The Friendly Society. Subsequently, Amida Trust has sponsored two Chakma Buddhist monks to visit the UK, one of whom, Ven. Anomadharsi is currently resident at The Buddhist House in Narborough.The Chakma Situation in Outline
The Chakmas are a tribal people who, at the time of the partition of India in 1948, lived in the Chittagong Hill Tracks. CHT is a region in the east of the Indian subcontinent and it was the only state which, at partition, had neither a Hindu nor a Muslim majority. The state was 98% Buddhist. Under the terms of the partition agreement, CHT should have become part of India. However, in some last minute bargaining, it was given to Pakistan. In due course, East Pakistan seceded and became Bangladesh. The homeland of the Buddhist Chakmas thus became part of a Muslim state. Since then there has been unrelenting pressure to force the non-Muslim and tribal people out so that Muslim settlers can take over the land. For a time this led to civil wwar in CHT with the Shati Bahini forces of the tribal people fighting against the government. During this period tens of thousands of Chakma became refugees in India and Burma. Eventually a Peace Accord was signed. The terms of the Accord have not, however, been adhered to and many Chakmas have been unable to return to their land. In addition, with the official cessation of hostilities, refugee status in India was no longer available. This has left Chakmas in a parlous position. Large numbers of them are still scattered across the North East States of India. In some areas they have civil rights and in many they do not. Some have found a place for themselves in Indian society and many still live in poverty as stateless people vulnerable to all manner of exploitation. In general terms, the plight of the Chakmas is not unlike that of the Tibetans. However, the Chakma case is less wll known and the Chakmas have less organisation.What Can be Done?
Amida Trust is a very small organisation when it comes to offering help to over 100,000 dispossessed people on the other side of the world. Hovever, we now have many friends among the Chakma community and we are gradually developing ways of becoming a useful part of their world. We see the Chakmas as having a lot to offer to us as well as we having things to offer them. Their experience as Buddhists living through a time a great hardship and oppression teaches us much. We aim to continue sponsoring members of the Chakma community visiting UK and, in conjunction with them, to continue offering assistance in a variety of small ways. The very fact that a tribal group have friends in the West who are willing to hear their case and distribute their news is some small safeguard against gross exploitation. In addition to sending small amounts of aid periodically, we are currently thinking through the possibility of establishing a more permanent project in India that could support Chakma culture and provide a bridge between the Chakmas and Western Buddhist communities.
Oppression of Chakma People Continues in Bangladesh
We regularly receive reports from our correspondent in Bangladesh of beatings, kidnappings, dispossession and unjust treatment of the hill tribal people in Bangladesh. In October 2001 a new government came to power there. The already
precarious position of the Chakma and other hill tribe peoples has become even
more perilous as a result. While the government continues in theory to follow
the Peace Accord under which the hill tribes agreed to cease armed resistance,
the reality seems to be that the situation is administered in ways that are
always disadvantageous to the tribal people and this makes them vulnerable to
all manner of abuse. Gradually they are forced out and many become refugees
crossing the border into India where their situation is hardly much better. Our
latest despatches make depressing reading with reports of beatings, killings,
kidnap, expropriation of land and supression of religious expression. Although a judgement has now finally been achieved giving Chakmas born in India a right to citizenship, this right is still not enacted in all states and the situation is particularly difficult in Arunachal Pradesh, one of the states where Chakmas are most numerous.
 | ANOMADHARSI |
 | BUDDHA RUPA |
If you would like to help
If you would like to help Amida to continue our support work to oppressed and disadvantaged groups overseas, please send donations to: Amida Trust, The Buddhist House, 12
Coventry Road, Narborough LE9 5GB, UK. Thankyou.