WHERE IS KALPANA CHAKMA? A four-year-old Question with No Answers – Meghna Guhathakurta
On the night of 11th June 1996, Kalpana Chakma, the organising sec- retary of the Hill Women’s Federation was abducted by security per- sonnel according to eye-witness account. Ever since then the Hill Women’s Federation have been demanding investigation into the case and punishment for the culprits. An inquiry Commission had been set up by the government to make necessary investigations. But till now, the contents of this report has not been officially published nor any measures taken to punish the culprits. Yet we are told that after reach- ing a ‘peace accord’ between the Bangladesh Government and the Jana Samhiti Samiti (JSS) everything is normal. On the eve of the 4th anniversary of Kalpana’s abduction we demand the immediate publi- cation of the inquiry commission report and the punishment of the per- petrators. In order to remind people of the awesome incident, the fol- lowing piece, which was written as part of a larger essay in 1997, is reproduced below.
The Kalpana Chakma Case: the incident
The Chittagong Hill Tracts of south-east Bangladesh is a hilly area people with minority ethnic groups such as the Chakmas, Tripuras and Murangs. The systematic suppression of the rights and cultural values of these ethnic minorities by the Bangladesh state have been causing them to flee the country in large numbers. Military oppression has also resulted in armed resistance in the guise of the Shanti Bahini. This in turn had led to counter-insurgency strategies adopted by the large mili- tary presence in the area. The hill people under the banner of organisations such as the Pahari Gono Parishad (PGP), the Pahari Chattro Parishad (PCP) and the Hill Women’s Federation (HWF) have been demanding the right to self-determination for the Hill people un- der the rubric of ‘Jumma nationalism’. The situation therefore has become highly volatile. It is in this backdrop that the following inci- dent took place. After the midnight of 11th June 1996, on the eve of the elections of June 12, Kalpana Chakma (23), central Organising Secre- tary of Hill Women’s Federation was abducted from her home in New Laillaghona village of Baghaichari Thana of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Kalpana was a first year graduate student of Baghaichari College and at the same time a conscious, vocal and hardworking activist who ful- filled her role as organising secretary of Hill Women’s Federation with commitment and resolve. She and her two brothers lived together with her mother and sister-in-law in the not-too-well-off neighbourhood of New Laillaghona village. Her brothers Kalindikumar alias Kalicharan (32) and Lalbihari Chakma alias Khudiram (26) were farmers who could not afford an education for themselves, but who wanted their only sister to get one no matter how hard up they were. This was what happenned on the night of 11th June according to the eyewitness ac- count of Kalpana’s two brothers (Akhter, 1996).
Kalpana’s household was fast asleep, when a host of men encircled the house and started calling out. The family awoke, and when the door was not opened promptly, they broke open the bolt made up of bamboo. The men gathered everyone into the drawing room and for- bade them to put the light on. They started to ask names and on calling on Kalpana’s younger brother Lalbihari. They dragged him outside. They announced that he had to be taken to the ‘Boss (Sir)’. While they were repeatedly flashing a torch on his face in order to identify him, Lalbihari (Khudiram), claimed he recognised some of the men, as the torch-light was not falling directly on his eyes. He recognised some of the men, as the torch-light was not falling directly on his eyes. The men he recognised was Lt. Ferdous (Kojoichari Camp Commander, 17 East Bengal regiment) wearing an army vest, Village Defense Party (VDP) Platoon Commander Nurul Huq and VDP Saleh Ahmed.
Lt. Ferdous then ordered Khudiram to be taken to the water’s edge about 150 yards from Kalpana’s house. After being taken there, he was blindfolded and his hand tied. After 10 to 15 minutes later, Kalpana and her elder brother Kalicharan was brought to the same place. Kalicharan’s eyes were blindfolded at that time. Kalpana was holding his hand. They were taken further west towards a water reservoir. They could guess where they were. Khudiram was told to go knee deep into the water. Someone caught hold of his hand and another person or- dered to shoot. On hearing this, Khudiram, released his bound hand, and jumped into the water. Although guns were fired, Khudiram, man- aged to escape. When Kalicharan heard the shot, he thought his brother dead, so he left Kalpana and made a dash for his life. Another shot was fired, and he could hear Kalpana crying out: Dada! Dada! (Brother!). Khudiram did not return home that night thinking it unsafe. when he returned in the morning he went with the Union Porishod Chairperson to the Ugalchari Army Camp nearby to look for Kalpana. Lt. Ferdous chased them away with threatening words. A search party from the village started to look for Kalpana but they found in the lake Khudiram’s lungi and an ammunition pouch, which Kalicharan claimed he depos- ited at the thana. The TNO later denied this.
On informing the Thana Nirbahi Officer (TNO), he took a verbal statement from Kalicharan, the eldest brother. Although initially there was a misconception that this also constituted a FIR, this was later denied by the TNO. Kalicharan’s FIR was taken by the officer in charge of the thana (police station) (Memorandum, 1996). However in the ver- bal statement given by Kalicharan, the mention of Lt. Ferdousi and recognition of him and others by Khudiram was not mentioned. The reason was perhaps that it was Khudiram and not Kalicharan who recognised him, and at the time of taking his statement, Khudiram had gone with the UP Chairperson to the Army Camp in search of Kalpana! The ammunition pouch, which Kalicharan claimed he deposited with the TNO, was also not found.
A protest strike was staged but the joint coalition of PCP, PGP and HWF in the Hill Tracts on 27th June 1996. During the strike, clashes took place between the law enforcing agencies and the protesters, where a school student Rupan Chakma was shot dead and his body taken away. Three more persons, Monotosh Chakma, Sukesh Chakma and Somor Bijoy Chakma could not be traced (Memorandum, 1996).
In the aftermath of the crisis, many allegations and counter allega- tions were made as to who or what caused this incident to take place. The military and their collaborative organisations tried to link up the incident with pre-poll violence trying to portray the role of the PCP, PGP and HWF as anti-people, anti-democratic, before, during and af- ter the elections. They denied all charges of being involved and claimed that her own people staged Kalpana’s disappearance. The Bangladesh Manobodhikar Commission (a human rights organisation) claimed that Kalpana Chakma had been found in a village in Tripura, India. The truth of such reports was not proven by subsequent investigation. An- other independent human rights group based in Chittagong said that the incident was not an isolated one but part of the continuous commu- nal tension in the Hill Tracts. They had testimony that the military was involved in the abduction of Kalpana Chakma.
The Movement: the dynamics of resistance
The movement, which campaigned to bring the issue of Kalpana Chakma’s abduction into the national and international arena, was spear- headed primarily by the coalition of Pahari organisations. These in- cluded the Hill Women’s Federation, Pahari Chattra Parishad and Pahari Gono Parishad but also involved sympathisers from the left, human rights and women rights activists with whom the former group worked closely with at least in Dhaka. First some words about the nature of resistance politics of the Pahari Organisations with specific empahasis on the Hill Women’s Federation of which Kalpana Chakma was Organisation secretary.
The Hill Women’s Federation (HWF) was founded with the aim of working alongside the PCP and PGP for self-determination of the ‘Jumma’ people. The HWF envisaged the women of the Hill Tracts as a distinct constituency in their struggle for self-determination. The rea- sons were not hard to fathom. In the militarised situation Jumma women constitutes the most vulnerable section of the population. Among the many crimes committed against the people of the Hill Tracts, sexual violence such as rape, gang rape, molestation and harassment was es- pecially prevalent. In 1990, information from one refugee camp in In- dia indicates that I in every 10 female has been a victim of rape in the CHT. Over 94% of the alleged cases of rape of Jumma women be- tween 1991-1993 were by ‘security forces’. Of these rape allegations, over 40% of the victims were women under 18. In this volatile situa- tion of the CHT, the rule of law no longer operates. Rape allegations for example were not accepted in the court systems in the CHT. Women of the Hill Tracts, their livelihoods and life styles were also implicated in the ecological and demographic policies followed by the govern- ment. This was explicated in the leaflet which two members of HWF carried to the NGO Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 (HWF, 1995).
The internal oppression had made Pahari women more conscious about their rights is born out by vivid statements made by Kalpana Chakma in her diary which was recovered by some journalists from her home after her disappearance. Parts of this diary were serially pub- lished in the Bengali Daily Bhorer Kagoj. Kalpana, who couldn’t go to Beijing because she was unable to raise enough funds for her registra- tion fee, was determined to fight out the dual struggle against politico- military and male oppression in her homeland.
She introduces her ‘daily notebook’ by the following lines: “Life means struggle and here are some important notes of a life full of struggle.” In depicting the life of a woman in the CHT, she writes,” On the one hand, (the woman faces) the steamroller of rape, torture, sexual harassment. Humiliation and conditions of helplessness inflicted by the military and Bengalis, and so on the other hand she faces the curse of social and sexual discrimination and a restricted lifestyle.” Kalpana’s understanding of oppression embraces all women of Bangladesh. “I think that the women of my country are the most oppressed.” In ex- pressing her yearnings for freedom from oppression she uses a beauti- ful metaphor. “When a caged bird wants to be free, does it mean that she wants freedom for herself alone? Does it also mean that one must necessarily imprison those who are already free? I think it is natural to expect the caged bird to be angry at those who imprisoned her. But if she understands that she has been imprisoned and that the cage is not her rightful place, then she has every right to claim the freedom of the skies!” (Chakma, 1996).
That Kalpana Chakma was a frontline activist in the struggle for self-determination of the Pahari people is also clear from her writing. In paying respect to the leader of their struggle, the Late Manabendra Narayan Larma, she writes as part of her speech on the occasion of his death anniversary,”….. 12 years has passed by. Every year, regardless of the ‘combing eyes of the olive brigade’ (the army), a memorial ser- vice is held, furtively, beneath a plum tree on a hilltop where thou- sands of students and public flock together to pay their respect. His name is celebrated from the hillsides to the jail… A leader dies, but new leadership emerges at the need of the hour. The struggle contin- ues. It becomes more intense. Very inevitably so.” (Chakma, 1996).
On another occasion which commemorated the martyrs of the Naniarchar massacre (November, 1993), Kalpana stresses the need for the youth to shake off the inertia which has descended on them. Again, we see that her call is all embrasive: she calls upon all students and she situates the students movement in the larger context of the historical struggles of ‘52,’69,’71 and ‘90. She writes: “A section of our youth are without direction. In losing their creative force they are being turned into pawns in the hands of the Army and the Zilla Parishad. But we are part of the student’s movement who had created ‘52,’69, ‘71. And ‘90!” This is an interesting claim to make especially since the movements mentioned above showed no signs of incorporating the demands of the hill people in their nationalist agendas (Mohsin, 1996). But if one looks at the time when this statement was made i.e. 17th November 1995, then one can perhaps understand its significance. The country was at that time on the verge of a civil disobedience movement led by the main opposition parties in their demand for a caretaker government as an assurance of a free and fair election. The Pahari Organisations too therefore voiced their preference for the democratic process, which they saw as being part of the movements of ‘52, ‘68, ‘71 and ‘90. We thus see that despite the many allegations of treason or secession hurled at them, these Pahari organisations had expressed their partiality for a democratic struggle for self-determination within the confines of Bangladesh.
But for Kalpana Chakma, democracy does not merely mean free and fair elections. It means participation in the political process and more specifically participation as a Chakma woman. She therefore stri- dently voices a critique of her own student’s movement, which remain male-dominated. She writes: “Despite the fact that women constitute half the population, they are not taken seriously in any movement for social change. As an example one can point out that the numerous demands voiced during the current movement, even the ten point de- mand of the Chhatro Shongram Parishad does not speak specifically of problems faced by the woman! Many conscious men seem to think that such problems are not important enough to be dealt with at this hour. Therefore the issue of woman’s emancipation have remained ne- glected in agendas for class struggle and political change (Chakma, 1996). Kalpana’s observations are not the first of their kind in the history of social change nor is it likely to be the last. One is rather uncannily rennded of words which the brave freedom fighter of Chittagong. Pritilata Wadeddar wrote in her last statement to the world before she died in combat against the British” “The discrimina- tion between men and women in the struggle for our liberation had wounded me. If my brothers can go to war to liberate our motherland, then why can our sisters not do so?” (Dastidar, 1956:114). Kalpana and her sisters had progressed one step further. They no longer have to fight to get included in the struggle, but they still have to struggle to get their agenda incorporated.
Kalpana’s tragic disappearance is still shrouded in mystery as the enquiry commission report has still to see the daylight, even in a situ- ation where the government has entered into a peace agreement with the JSS the main armed wing of Hill people fighting for ‘Jummaland’. But Kalpana’s words should be read as a warning bell to complacent authorities. If such cases are not investigated properly and tried in way to make those responsible publicly accountable, then the Hill people would continue to feel angry and that would not bode well for the peace of the region.
The Movement: the role of civil society organisations
Civil society organisations have been flourishing in Bangladesh par- ticularly after the collapse of the autocratic Ershad regime. Most of these organisations are development oriented, though in the last few years some of them have been increasingly concerned with human rights violations and giving legal aid to vulnerable sections of the popula- tion. However, only a small proportion of these organisation is con- cerned with the Hill Tracts.
The CHT issue has remained a delicate and touchy one for the Bengali middle-class, even after the polity of Bangladesh had attained a formal democratic character. Human rights violations have remained the concern of a handful of lawyers, academics and human rights ac- tivists and left party workers and students. Many Pahari activists com- plain that civil society organisations are reluctant to take up frontline activity. The National Committee for the Protection of Fundamental Rights was formed in 1991 as an advocacy organisation for both Pahari and Bengali scholars and activists.
Recently however, the Hill Tracts issue has also been receiving the attention of the mainstream women’s movement as was reflected in the Kalpana Chakma case. The women’s movement in Bangladesh had been and still is largely development oriented and the issue of women’s rights as human rights proliferated among organisations as an instru- ment of development (Guhathakurta, 1996). Women’s organisations registered as NGOs were limited by their manifestos that prevented them from actively getting involved in political situations. However, recently the movement has been getting more ‘political’ i.e. taking up issues, which had direct repercussions on the state. Several women’s organizations had formed a common platform, the Sammilita Nari Shomaj which enabled them to bypass the limitations of their organisational agendas and protest the rape and murder of 14 year old domestic helper named Yasmin from a broader platform. Even after the Yasmin incident, the Sammilita Nari Shomaj continued to protest state violence against women, taking up the Kalpana Chakma case.
It may be mentioned that the HWF had participated in the March 8th 1994 rally of the women’s movement with their slogan Autonomy for Peace. They also went to the NGO Forum of the Women’s Confer- ence in Beijing in 1995 with the same slogan. However although the National Preparatory Committee Towards Beijing, NGO Forum ‘95 constituted a separate task force on indigenous women, barely two lines were included on the topic in the summary of the official NGO report. This reflected the hesitation on the part of some NGOs to deal with an issue, which had become a matter of political controversy. On the other hand, the movement, which rallied behind Kalpana Chakma was ex- ceptional to the extent that many human rights and women’s organisations demonstrated on the streets and joined hands with the Left and Trade Union activists in protesting the kidnapping in unam- biguous terms. This may have been possible due to the more relaxed atmosphere following the coming to power of a government who had specific electoral promises about the CHT.
However it cannot be understated that the position and status of Bengali middle-class activists fighting a battle on the streets of Dhaka are very different to those fighting for their rights and dignity in the frontline of existence, the CHT. Needless to say the stakes are much higher in the latter case. The fate of Kalpana Chakma is a sad reminder of this.
Recent developments
A new development has taken place outside the mainstream women movement, which has had important consequences for the CHT activ- ists as well as other indigenous peoples such as Garos. Two of the more centrally located university campuses of the country, Dhaka Uni- versity and Jahangirnagar University experienced some of the worst incidents of sexual harassment ever reported. But in both Universities, first in Jahangirnagar and then in Dhaka University, it was the women students who were in the frontline of protests. Most students’ branches of mainstream political parties not only steered away from them but also vehemently attacked such attempts, thus revealing the ruthless patriarchal culture of traditional students’ politics. The young students who protested (both male and female) were supported by a few stu- dents group of left leaning who were willing to take on board the gen- der issues in their political agenda. After the crisis was over, the net- works developed during these times endured and an effort was made to translate this into a sustained social movement. Networks and alliances were contracted in response to other incidents of sexual violence, which rocked the country and a kind of loose network of organisations and individuals were formed under the banner of the Jouno Nipiron Protirodh Mancha (Platform against sexual harassment). This is in the formative stage but it bears a certain dissimilarity from the above men- tioned Sammilita Nari Shomaj at least in two ways. First, the Mancha constitutes both men and women, therefore in the real sense it is not part of the women’s movement. Second, it takes into consideration both class and the nationality question on board and hence associates itself with as well as supports both left-oriented groups as well as in- digenous peoples movements, like the PCP, HWF and the upcoming Bangladesh Garo Chattro Shongothon. But this platform has also served groups like the PCP and HWF (those still contesting state policies) as a forum in which they can demonstrate solidarity with issues of gen- eral concern. Some of these issues have been sexual harassment, evic- tion of slums and brothels, environment policies of the state and the politics of oil exploration. As such the same groups who had been concerned solely with issues of ethnic discrimination are broadening their participation and thereby strengthening their democratic founda- tions in the wider body politics. Simultaneously the PCP and HWF who have had a longer and arduous history of struggle than the other indigenous people’s organisations are now actively involving them in build up networks among indigenous students groups such as the Garos. Interestingly, the Bangladesh Garo Chattro Shongothon made its first debut in national politics by effectively protesting the rape and murder of a Garo domestic worker in Mymensingh. They are effectively net- working with PCP, HWF, and other member organisations of the Mancha on specific gender concerns as well as other issues that link up with their agenda. In a leaflet demanding proper investigation and justice for the alleged rape and murder of Garo domestic worker Levina Howie, their demands included among others, issues such as constitu- tional recognition of all nationalities, solution to land related prob- lems, investigation and justice for all crimes committed against women. (BAGCHAS Leaflet, 1999). This is perhaps an indication that some of the issues which linked up gender and ethnicity, which was lacking from the mainstream women’s movement, is being compensated for in this forum. It seems that though Kalpana Chakma had disappeared from our midst, she has clearly left her legacy behind.
It is clear from Kalpana Chakma’s quotes above that hill women had argued the case for greater participation of women in the move- ment as well as for the inclusion of the gender issue within the agenda of the party. But at the same time they realised that they needed to be free of ethnic discrimination as well. Kalpana Chakma in an article talked of their vision of a peaceful world: “We want a society where men and women would enjoy equal rights. Also where one class of people would not exploit another class of people or where one commu- nity will not be able to dominate and abuse another community (Chakma, K, 1996:1).
References:
1. Akhter,S. (1996) Kalpana Chakma Udhao Keno? (Why has Kalpana Chakma Disappeared?) in Bhorer Kagoj,17 July.
2. Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) (1996) ASK Bulletin, September.
3. Bangladesh Garo Chattra Shongothon, Leaflet distributed for de- manding justice for the rape and murder of Garo domestic worker, Levina Howie, 25th August 1999, Dhaka.
4. Bhorer Kagoj, (1996) 24th August
5. Bhorer Kagoj (1996) 16th May.
6. Bhorer Kagoj (1996) 22nd May
7. Chakma, K. (1996) Kalpana Chakma’s Diary, published serially in Bhorer Kagoj, 24th July, 29th September and 6th October.
8. Daily Star, The, (1994) sub editorial report, January.
9. Daily Star, The (1995) 5th September.
10. Dastidar,P. (1956) Birkannya Pritilata, Dhaka, Nabaprokash Bhobon.
11. Guhathakurta,M. (1985) Gender Violence in Bangladesh: The Role of the State, in the Journal of Social Studies, no.30.
12. Hill Women’s Federation (HWF) (1995) Leaflet distributed in NGO Forum, Beijing.
13. Memorandum to the Home Minister presented by 12 organisations, 14.7.96
14. Mohsin, A. (1996) The Nationalist State and the Chittagong Hill Tracts 1971-1994 in the Journal of Social Studies,no.74.