Map highlighting the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where Indigenous communities continue to face questions of land, identity, and long-term security.
The survival of the Indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts is no longer a distant political debate. It is a question of existence. This concern did not appear suddenly, and it did not grow out of anger or emotion. It comes from a long history of insecurity, loss, and uncertainty about the future.
Every community survives on three basic foundations: land, identity, and security. When any one of these becomes weak, life becomes difficult. When all three weaken together, the survival of the people themselves comes into danger. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, all three foundations have slowly eroded over the course of many decades.
Land has been lost through Bengali Settler settlement, development projects, administrative decisions, and demographic pressure. Indigenous families who once depended on land for livelihood and culture now face uncertainty about ownership and access. Identity has also remained fragile.
Even today, Indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts struggle for full recognition of who they are, how they belong, and how their history is acknowledged. Security, meanwhile, has often come through control and suspicion rather than trust. Instead of feeling protected as equal citizens, many hill people have grown up feeling monitored, restricted, or unheard.
Because of this experience, a deep and lasting bond between the state and the Indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts was never fully formed. Over time, this lack of trust has turned into a serious question: can a people truly survive in a system where they feel permanently uncertain about their land, identity, and safety?
Many readers ask why this discussion is happening now. The answer is simple. This thinking is not new. It is rooted in history.
In 1947, when British India was divided, the Chittagong Hill Tracts were not a Muslim-majority region. At that time, Indigenous leaders and communities expressed the wish to be connected with India, not with Pakistan. Their concern was not ideology. It was survival. They feared that becoming part of a new state where they would be a small and vulnerable minority would threaten their land, culture, and security. That wish was ignored. The decision was taken elsewhere, without the consent of the people of the hills. First, the region was placed under Pakistan, and later it became part of Bangladesh.
This is why today’s discussion did not appear out of nowhere. It is an unresolved historical question returning after decades of lived experience. The will of the people was overlooked once, and the consequences of that decision have shaped their lives ever since.
Some people believe that full independence would solve these problems. But independence is not only about having a flag or a new name. Independence means protecting borders, running an economy, gaining international recognition, and handling pressure from powerful neighbors. The Chittagong Hill Tracts are located in a very sensitive region. A small independent state would face serious political and security challenges almost immediately. It would also face resistance from Bangladesh, which is unlikely to accept separation easily. Such a path could lead to prolonged instability, and ordinary Indigenous people would bear the highest cost.
This is why the idea of connection with India is discussed again, not as a sudden or emotional demand, but as a survival calculation. Being part of a larger constitutional system could offer stronger legal protection, access to independent courts, political representation, and international visibility. It could reduce one-sided control and replace uncertainty with institutions, law, and public accountability. This does not promise a perfect future, but it offers a framework where rights can be claimed and defended.
It is important to be clear: this discussion is not about force, violence, or imposition. Any future direction must come from the freely expressed will of the people. Choice matters. Consent matters. Without that, no political solution can be legitimate or sustainable.
Such a change, if ever pursued, cannot happen overnight. It cannot happen through weapons or secret deals. It can only happen through a long, peaceful, political process. In that process, students have a crucial role. Students are the future voice of society. Indigenous students and supportive student groups in Tripura, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Kolkata, and Delhi can begin by creating serious, informed discussions. The central question they raise is simple: why do the Indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts still feel unsafe about their future after so many decades?
From there, peaceful public engagement becomes important. Seminars, discussions, cultural programs, and academic forums allow ideas to be examined calmly. These are not spaces for anger or slogans. They are spaces for reason. Universities and civic platforms are where public opinion in India begins to take shape. When the issue is explained clearly and responsibly, it becomes harder to ignore.
Writing and media play a similar role. Articles, opinion pieces, and interviews help explain the real situation of the hill people to a wider audience. When journalists, scholars, and human rights voices begin to speak, silence breaks. The issue moves from the margins into the national conversation.
Political awareness can then grow naturally. Memorandums and briefings can reach Members of Parliament and state leaders, especially in Northeast India. The language must remain mature and careful: not violence, not hatred, but dignity, stability, and long-term peace.
If this crisis continues to be ignored, another reality will slowly emerge. Indigenous people will leave their homeland in search of safety, education, and work. Because of geography, many will move toward India. At that point, the issue will no longer be only about the hills. It will become a humanitarian and administrative challenge for the region. Population pressure will increase, but land will not. History shows that unresolved human problems do not disappear; they travel.
This discussion is therefore not anti-Bangladesh. It is not pressure against India. It is not a call for chaos. It is a logical and human question about survival. A people whose will was ignored in 1947, and whose rights have remained uncertain for generations, have the right to ask where they truly belong.
There are many cases around the world, like the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where Indigenous peoples have faced long-term uncertainty about their existence. This issue does not have to be resolved through conflict. It can be raised peacefully at international forums, including the United Nations, where long-standing Indigenous and human rights issues are discussed and addressed through dialogue and law. A peaceful, lawful process is not only possible but also necessary.
Borders are political decisions. But people are human realities. When a people lose land, identity, and security for too long, they do not simply fade quietly. They disappear.
Wanting safety, dignity, and a future is not a crime. It is a basic human right.
If this question is not raised today, tomorrow the hills may remain, but the people of the hills may not.
