last week i spent a few days in the bandarban region of bangladesh. i went with a group of about 12 people, mostly faculty and staff from AUW. it was refreshing to be outside the city, away from the crowds and noise of chittagong. we spent a couple nights in a village called boga lake. we swam in the lake. one day we hiked for about six hours, passing through groves of banana trees, by a waterfall, and through several villages. it is the dry season, but there was still some green in the hills. it must be remarkably lush during the rainy season.
the bandarban region is part of the chittagong hill tracts, which are very close to the border with myanmar. most of the people there belong to tribes that are not ethnically bengali, and who do not speak bangla as their first language. many of them are buddhist or christian, rather than muslim. the village where we slept had a well-maintained evangelical church, and i sat in the back row during part of an evening service there (of course i could not undertand the language, but they seemed to be reading the bible)
a couple decades ago, the bangladeshi government began to settle the region with bengalis, which led to armed conflict that lasted a number of years. according to the government posters and propaganda, the region is now happy and harmonious. but there is still a military occupation there. foreigners must obtain special permission to visit the hill tracts. we had to stop at several military checkpoints. the village we stayed in had only 30 or 40 buildings, including sheds and work buildings, but it had a military post in it. and on our hike we passed by half a dozen soldiers carrying rifles.
the longer i was there, the more i felt like i was in a place that was suffering government oppression. the people live remarkably spare and simple lives. but beyond that, they seem wary of outsiders and beleaguered. it began to feel like the tribal peoples were on display against their wishes, for the interest of visitors (mostly upper class bengalis from dhaka, with comparatively few foreigners). i started to feel uncomfortable being there as a tourist, somehow complicit in a bad situation. upon returning, a google search turned up reports of atrocities against the tribal people by bengali settlers and bangladeshi military, as well as drug and arms smuggling along the border with myanmar. i don't really know the story, and i imagine it is complicated. but given the high levels of corruption here, the history of conflict, and the military presence, i'm confident everything is not as rosy as the government suggests.
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| our trail guide |
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| one of many village puppies |
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| ginger drying outside |
