Chakma refugees
Topic: Regional Aspirations: J&K, Punjab, the North-East and Accommodation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 7 "Regional Aspirations"
Meaning
The Chakmas are a mainly Buddhist community. They were displaced from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and came to India as refugees. Many were resettled in Arunachal Pradesh. Their case matters because it shows the "anti-outsider" feeling in the North-East. Local people fear that migrants will take their land, jobs and political power.
Example
Chakmas have faced hostility from local groups in Arunachal Pradesh and in Mizoram. This shows that fear of outsiders in the region is not only about migrants from Bangladesh in Assam. It also affects refugee groups settled by the government itself.
Don't confuse with
- Bru (Reang) people: they fled Mizoram for Tripura in 1997, and the Bru-Reang Agreement (January 2020) settles them permanently in Tripura. The Chakmas came from East Pakistan and were resettled in Arunachal Pradesh.
Related concepts
- Assam Movement
- All Assam Students' Union
- United Liberation Front of Asom
- Assam Accord
- Clause 6 of the Assam Accord
- Asom Gana Parishad
- Bru-Reang Agreement