Chakma people speak the Chakma language of the Chakma language branch of the Eastern Austroasiatic language family. "Chok Ma". Chok means 'interchangeable', and Ma means 'different', hence "Chok Ma" is Chakma language for Chok (Cok) language. The name is often spelled using the Romanization scheme "Chokma", although some are using the romanization system, where the letter 'C' is replaced with the letter "K", as in "Chokkam" (চক্কম). The Chakma people are known by several other names in other languages, e.g. Jorawang, Kokma, Janakam. There are three Chakma peoples. These include: The Khumi Chakma are believed to be the ancestors of the Chakma people. They are considered to be the "chawm", or "ancestor", of the Chakma people. According to a 2003 published account, the relationship between the Khumi and Chakma people is so close that the Chakma people often use the Khumi word for "Father" ("Ba") when referring to themselves. However, their language is not mutually intelligible. The "Daifu" (松顶, "Big river") is the biggest river in the Chakma homeland. Rice, watermelons, limes, and other tropical fruits are grown in the Chakma homeland. There are two international airports that have services for the Chakma people: the Chittagong international airport and the Cox's Bazar international airport. The Chittagong international airport is located in Chittagong in Bangladesh. Chakma people are distributed across the lower delta region, mainly in the coastal area of Chittagong Division and the extreme southern tip of Rangamati division. In the Chittagong Division they inhabit the port town of Cox's Bazar, Daulatdia, Khagrachari, Bandarban, Narayanganj, Jashore, Khagrachari, Bandarban, Teknaf, Bogra, Gaibandha, Manikganj, Madaripur, and Patuakhali. In the Rangamati Division, they reside mainly in Moulvibazar, Moulvibazar Sadar, Cox's Bazar Sadar, Cox's Bazar Sadar, Nauradehi, Bandarban Sadar, Bandarban Thana, and Pabna Sadar. They are known as the ""Diam (lit. full of) Hakum"" ("prayerful, devout") people of Bangladesh. The Chakmas are considered one of the most successful and hard working ethnic groups in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, they own large amounts of land, businesses, and most importantly, they run their local government, locally known as a "zila parishad" in some districts and "thana" in other districts. The inhabitants of this region were formerly called Chaks and Dhumyals. They are considered the native inhabitants of this region and have their culture and traditions like their relatives in India, like the Majhi, and also the Tamangs of Darjeeling. Mala Bamandari District, Lalmonirhat District and Jessore District were once part of the Chakma homeland, but they were forced to abandon it during the British colonial rule. The Chakmas were first introduced to Dihua Island in the Bay of Bengal in 1705 by the British East India Company which brought them from the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Their ancestors settled on Dihua Island and later on settled the Chittagong Hill Tracts. They are the main ancestors of the Chittagong Hill Tracts National Park, which was set up by the Government of Bangladesh in 1973. The following ethnic groups are of the Chakma people. See the population figures for Bangladesh for specific ethnic groups. According to the Bangladesh census of 1991, there were 30,936 Chakma people in Bangladesh. However, there has been a notable decrease in their population. According to the census of 2010, there were 12,396 Chakma people in Bangladesh. There is a significant Chakma diaspora in many countries of the world. Among these countries, India is the largest Chakma diaspora, followed by the United States of America and Canada. The Chakma people have close cultural and linguistic links with other groups in South and Southeast Asia. Most speakers of Chakma language have left Bangladesh. The Chittagong Hill Tracts National Park is their last refuge in Bangladesh. The Chakmas are the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. The Chakma are known for their many clans which keep their clans as they lived in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Chakmas are adherents of the Theravada Buddhism, Chittagonian Hinduism, and Islam. The Chittagonian traditions are followed by the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the Chakmas, the Bhutias, the Chakma and the Tibetans. The main Chittagonian festivals are the Chitty Diye Piya, Dhinoe Piya, and Maithe Piya. Chittagonian Hindu festivals include the Pasi Potha, Dagon Puja, Uropathu Tissa, and Usha Puja. In Dhaka, the Chakma people celebrate a festival called Pausa or Phagu. The practice of Kuliko is a significant Buddhist ritual in the region. The Khmer people are ethnically related to the Chakma people of Bangladesh, and share some similar cultural and ethnic traits. The Chakma of the Chittagong Hill Tracts traditionally worship the local Buddhist deity called Pu-lak-thek. Sri Thakur Chandra, the king of the Chittagong Hill Tracts was a high caste Theravada Buddhist king. The Chakmas follow the Theravada Buddhism and believe in the Buddha's doctrine of inter-dependency between the individual and society and the precept of the Four Noble Truths. They practice four kinds of rituals: The Chakma people have a peculiar tradition known as the "Chakma Holy Song" (or "Jaapakhay"). These songs are based on the traditional prayers of the Chakma religious rites, of which the most prominent are the "Urolak Paya", "Urolak Peye" and "Vakya Saptahik Paya". These prayers are only sung on special occasions. Songs are sung at several ritual occasions such as the building of a house, the marriage of a woman or a boy, on birth of a child, on arrival of guests, victory in a battle, etc. The song must have a reference to a god. The prayers are sung in the Chittagonian Theravada dialect of Chakma, which is different from the Chakma dialect of bordering India. Chakma song is a living tradition and is handed down from generation to generation. Chittagonian Hindu rituals include the worship of Hindu gods such as "Udrajit" and "Kamrupa". The Chakma women wear saffron gowns called "kunar" at religious festivals. The "janglongs" (a long skirt) are also worn. The women also wear a saffron shawl called "dandi". The men also wear a kurta (Shalwar Kameez), "sinlak" (Tuk tuk), "chhaechhok" and "taak". The Chakma speak the Chakma language as their native language, a language in the Sino-Tibetan language family. According to UNESCO, in 2008, the language was spoken by only about 2,250 speakers, most of them in the Chakma Autonomous District and Rangamati Hill District of Bangladesh, while about 45,000 had it as their mother tongue in Myanmar. The Chakmas speak the standard dialect of Bangladesh. The Chakma language, which has three distinct vowels, is spoken by the Chakma people as their native tongue. The total Chakma population in Bangladesh is about 35,000. Chakma people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts speak the Chakma language, which is a language of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The Chakma language is a tonal language with an extremely complex vocabulary and a variety of distinctive grammar. Most of the Chakma today speak Bangla (Bengali). The first language of the Chakmas of Bangladesh was Theravada Buddhism, which was adopted by the Chakma as early as in 5th century A.D. Buddhist texts of Chittagong Hill Tracts such as the "Samudragupta Chandrika" of Vimalamitra and the "Mahavamsa" of Vikramaditya were written by the Khasi people of the Indian state of Meghalaya, but the Chakmas adopted the language of their neighbours and adopted Theravada Buddhism under the influence of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The cult of the Chakma Buddha, who is the second Buddha after Gautama Buddha, is known as "Urolak Paya" or "Shaou Ahrob Pey". Other Theravada sects are found among the Kokborok people, particularly in the Bangladesh districts of Bagerhat, Bishwanath, Khagrachari, Bandarban, and Chittagong. Zoroastrianism was brought to the Chittagong Hill Tracts by followers of Islam in the early 19th century. Zoroastrianism is spread mainly in Bangladesh. The population in Bangladesh consists of over 25,000 Chakma Zoroastrians. Languages spoken by the Chakmas include Chakma language, Khasi language, Meitei language, Barua language, Santali language, Bengali language, Bhojpuri language, Bhutia language and Telugu language. Traditional dance forms include the "Shai", "Jhumur", "Phupa", "Haleem", and "Apabah". Chakma women use a thick waist cloth known as "lai" for occasions such as marriage ceremonies. On such occasions, they wear black dresses, embroidered head dresses, anklets, earrings and ornaments. They wear a thin layer of turmeric paste on their upper bodies which gives an attractive red colour. Women's shoes are not worn during "Punya Tari" festivities. Traditional Chakma food includes "chapali", "paal" (tea), "poshi" (a sort of porridge), "dhaai" (sweet food) made with banana, lime, jaggery, and sugarcane. Hot water is generally not used to make tea, but fresh milk or a tea made of cooked tea is used for that purpose. Bengali is the national language of Bangladesh and is spoken by many members of the Chakma ethnic group. Bengali is the main language of communication between the Chakma and Bangladeshis. It is not written in the Chakma language. There is some use of Chakma in Bengali education. Bengali, being a modified form of Assamese, is similar to the Chakma language. The people speak a variation of the Bengali language with minor phonetic changes, which reflects a slight westward displacement of the original Assamese language. The local rural dialect of the Chakma people, "Chakma Paach", reflects extensive borrowing from the neighboring Bihari language. As in the other parts of East Bengal, the Chakma ethnic group is sometimes referred to by Bihari locals as "Dangal" ("people of the forest"). The local Bengali language has a lexicon of words derived from Assamese, Khasi, and Meitei. Like all Bangladeshi Muslims, the Chakma people are often called "Torshi" (٢أےہ; Bengali,তৃস্তী), a word derived from the word "Torshe" (তৃস্তীশা), meaning one of the Muslims (Turks, "Bengali"s). "Torshi" refers to Muslim Bangladeshis who live in the eastern part of Bangladesh, and the word "Turk" is used in the same way to refer to the eastern Pakistani ethnic groups of the Muslim Pashtun, Baloch, Awan, and Hazara peoples. A somewhat derogatory word used by the Biharis and Bihari-origin peoples of Bangladesh is "Aliragi" (আলোগিকা), meaning a non-Bengali (i.e., "incomplete Bengali") Muslim. "Aliragi" is derogatory and means one who is not true to the Muslim faith. There are small number of Chakma in India, mainly in the state of West Bengal and Tripura. There are also small numbers of Chakma refugees in Tripura and Bangladesh, and in some parts of the Mizoram state. These include: "Mir Ali" (d. 1322) established the first religious school in Burma. In 1913, on the border of India and Burma, an example of Chittagong Chittagong Hill Tracts Chakma alphabet was composed by A. M. E. Sambanthan under the supervision of Md. Ziauddin Shah, a descendant of Mir Ali. Athazangkera published the first volume of a Chittagong Chittagong Hill Tracts chronicle in 1942, followed by subsequent volumes in 1948 and 1960. According to Chakma legend, "Taku Rakshana", the first Chakma kingdom of this name, was established by a prince named Sanga Khan. It was established between the Majherdumba (now in Bangladesh) and the Godohuru (now in India). It is not known whether he is the same prince as Sirukha, the head of the Sibsagar Kingdom. According to a 1901 English report by Lieutenant-Colonel James Kerguelen, Sanga Khan defeated a confederation of neighbouring peoples around a river at Dikhou, which allowed him to establish his kingdom. The spelling of Sanga Khan in Kerguelen's report is , a transliteration of the native Chakma name given to the prince, . At this time, the Chakma had three kingdoms; the first two, which controlled parts of the Teesta and Chittagong basins, are thought to have been held by the Sibsagar Dynasty of Burma (now the Mizoram state of India) and to have been destroyed around the 12th century. The third, Sanga Khan's kingdom, is today thought to have been located in the Dikhou region of the Chittagong Hills of southeastern Bangladesh. Sanga Khan's kingdom was made up of several provinces; by the time he died, he was believed to have controlled a large number of the present-day districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of southeastern Bangladesh. His army is thought to have included the chief of Dikhou, and numerous Chittagonian tribes. Sanga Khan's descendants ruled over the Chittagong Hill Tracts until the 17th century, when the first groups of Muslim missionaries arrived from Bengal, though the region had been in decline since the 12th century. The second wave of Chakma kings is thought to have emerged around this time. In the late 16th century, another wave of Hindu missionaries, this time from Tripura, established their first religious school in the region, naming it after Balaram Das, who arrived from Bengal in 1578. The Tripuri missionaries established a small mutt on the northern side of the Ghumdhum hills, south of the Chakma capital Srimongol. It is believed that the sect's founder, Purnakandiyar or Lakshminath Sen (1593–1656), received his training at the Tripuri mutt. The Chakmas followed Balaram Das and his descendants into Bangladesh in 1717, where they established the area's first Chakma-language school. Many refugees from the Pakistan-controlled Chittagong Hill Tracts (formerly known as the Chittagong Hill Tracts) fled into Bangladesh in 1947–48. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, the Chakmas were one of the three largest populations of Bengali refugees fleeing Pakistan (the others being the Bengalis of Sylhet and the Bengalis of Chittagong). The refugees formed the largest concentration of Bengali refugees in Asia, about 2.4 million people. In the 1980s, they were shifted to five new townships in Bangladesh, along with other refugees from other ethnicities. In 1985, these refugees founded the Bangladesh Chakma Autonomous District Council in 1991, the first official Chakma autonomous district. By the end of 1992, Chakma refugees had settled in more than 25,000 homes in Bangladesh. In the early 1990s, an estimated 7,000 Chittagonian refugees moved from Bangladesh into West Bengal, where they settled in Mymensingh District. The refugees faced severe discrimination in West Bengal, and nearly half of the Chakma refugees left West Bengal for India in the 2000s, while the other half continued to live in West Bengal. Many of the Chakmas who left West Bengal to return to Bangladesh in the 2000s were women, the majority of whom were aged over 50. The second and third waves of Chakma refugees are thought to have settled in Chittagong Hill Tracts in the early 20th century. The people they brought with them were mostly Christian converts from Brahmin families, known as Dokhiria, who used to live in the region. Most of the Chakma refugees had had Bengali surnames, and they incorporated them into their Chakma names. During the past few decades, Bangladesh's government has issued identity cards to refugees from Myanmar, thereby making them eligible for social and economic services. At the same time, the Bangladesh government has resisted recognising their right to return to the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In the early 20th century, members of the Chakma caste were regarded as second-class subjects of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In 1919, the British Raj government imposed communal intermarriage laws on the Chakmas and other tribal groups in the region, making intermarriage between a Chakma and a non-Chakma illegal. In 1951, a new law was passed, this time excluding the Chakmas from entering their home area, the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The 1951 law defined a foreigner as anyone "born in India, Pakistan or Burma and who has migrated into the Sylhet District of Bangladesh". As a consequence, it is possible that those who identify as Chakma were in fact British subjects in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, who had been counted as foreigners by the British Raj. (The 1951 law also banned any existing Chakma migrants from returning to the Chittagong Hill Tracts.) The Chakma people were granted citizenship on 9 February 1974. However, many Chakmas did not claim Bangladeshi citizenship for fear of discrimination. Chakma people do not use the Chakma language in daily life. Most Chakmas use Bengali, while some speak the local language of the Chakma people. Some Chakmas speak a local variety of the Bengali language called Talugtoli. However, the English spelling of the word "Chakma" is not used in daily life, while the Chakma language is often referred to as "Chakma". The Chakma language is a member of the Chakma language family, which has a large number of other languages, such as Dokhiria, which belongs to the Tripuri branch of the Tripuri–Chakma–Bodo language family. The Chakma people claim that the Chakma language is a form of Austroasiatic, which is a member of the Indo-Chinese language family. Most Chakmas have assimilated Bengali in order to use it for business transactions, school, and daily life. At one time, Chakma refugees did not take Bengali surnames, but most Chakmas now take Bengali surnames. The Chakma people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts have been regarded as second-class citizens since the arrival of the British Raj. Many were alienated and marginalized by the policies of the British Raj. Their plight worsened after the independence of India and Bangladesh. In 1974, the people of Chittagong Hill Tracts became Bangladesh citizens. In 1974, the Bangladesh government recognised Chakma refugees as "ordinary citizens". During the following years, several associations were formed to provide legal assistance to Chakma refugees in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. These associations acted as a support system for Chakmas who were denied political rights or who faced discrimination in general. In 2006, the Bangladeshi government promulgated a new citizenship law that excluded the Chakma refugees from being citizens of Bangladesh. Many Chakmas, and those claiming to be Chakma, now identify as "indigenous" residents of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Some have formed the "Chakma National Council", which aims to assist all Chakmas in the region in solving their problems. The Chakmas are known to practice "jhum" (slash and burn) farming. They mostly live in clusters of mud huts called "khelas", although there are some settlements of larger size, known as "bojors". They are one of the poorest groups in Bangladesh, and receive little aid from the government. Chakmas are primarily Hindus, although a small number have converted to Islam. Some have adopted Christianity. While the Chakma people consider themselves "indigenous" to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a number of the Chakma people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts claim to be of Bangladeshi ethnicity. One explanation is that they belong to the Sylheti group of Bengali speakers, the largest group of speakers in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Another theory is that they are descendants of Chakmas who were expelled from the Sylhet region by the Sylheti landlords and became "hill people" in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The majority of the Chakma people live in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Chakmas live in small villages throughout the hills of Bangladesh, although they are especially concentrated in the Districts of Rangamati, Chittagong, Bandarban and Cox's Bazar. There are several special "chakmas mohallas" (locations) where they live, including the Mirsahi "mohalla" and the Kushtia "mohalla". Outside of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, many Chakmas live in the Chittagong and Mongla urban areas, and in parts of Khulna and Jessore. Chakmas are also found in Kolkata, the capital city of the Indian state of West Bengal. Most of the Chakma people have adopted Bengali in order to use it for business transactions, school, and daily life. However, the English spelling of the word "Chakma" is not used in daily life, while the Chakma language is often referred to as "Chakma". There are an estimated 50,000 Chakma people in Chittagong. These people are generally engaged in agriculture, although some work in the rubber and tea industries. There are also a number of Chakma traders who are involved in the timber trade, the wood processing industry, or in the export of precious stones, gems, and minerals. However, the majority of Chakmas in Chittagong still depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Despite the economic downturn in recent decades, there has been some improvement in Chakma agricultural output. A number of Chakma women are educated, and a number of successful people have come from this group. The Chakmas have a distinctive language, although it is poorly understood by other people. It is known as Chakma, and it is written in the Dhivehi script. Some people have converted to Islam in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and others have retained their religion. The most educated and notable members of the Chakma community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are women. However, their children often become jobless and are forced to migrate to cities in search of a livelihood. The Chakmas are poor, and the wealth of the Chakma community is often perceived by other people as the result of the corruption and mismanagement of local administrators. The Chakma people have a traditional matrilineal society. Women inherit property from their husbands and from their brothers and sisters. As women generally have little political power, they do not often participate in political affairs. In some societies, Chakma women are viewed as having a low status. However, most Chakmas live in joint family-based villages, and do not have arranged marriages. Most marriages in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are in the "vani" (adoptive) system. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a relatively high percentage of the population practices "jhum" (slash and burn) farming. Chakmas practice "jhum" cultivation, and are dependent on the monsoon rains for their livelihood. In the spring, when the monsoon arrives, the Chakmas move their huts to higher ground. As rain falls, the Chakmas will harvest millet and other crops such as rice. This type of agriculture requires careful cultivation and abundant rainfall. The Chakma people have also been forced to leave their homes in the monsoon, because the rice fields on higher ground become waterlogged and cannot be cultivated. The Chakmas also suffer from drought conditions during the rainy season, as rainfall is usually too low to provide sufficient water to the rice paddies. The food supplies are also limited, because the land cannot support the growing population of the Chakma people. As a result, the Chakma people must rely on imported foods, such as rice, wheat, and oil, to live. The Chakma people are predominantly Sunni Muslims. The traditional Chakma religion is predominantly a syncretic faith that incorporates several different traditional indigenous religions such as animism, animistic worship of natural phenomena such as springs and certain stars, and Saivism, where Shiva is viewed as the supreme deity and the Chakmas are polytheists. However, many modern Chakma are involved in Hindu temple-building activities. The current political structure of the Chakmas is based on the Charter of the Chakmas of Chittagong Hill Tracts, signed in 1982. This agreement stated that the Chakmas will be governed through a local administrative council, which consists of 28 elected representatives from the six community-based councils. Chakmas are paid regular salary by the local government. The members of the local administrative council are elected for five-year terms. The Chakmas have acquired some governmental power and some control over their area through political channels. The Chakmas created a low-level political party known as the "Chakma Front" ("Chakma Bela"). The Front is a member of the Alliance of Democratic Left (ALDI). However, ALDI has only 19 members in parliament, and therefore it is one of the smallest political parties in Bangladesh. The Chakma Front has four representatives in the National Parliament of Bangladesh. In 1992, the Chakma Front started a political party in Bangladesh, the "National Democratic Front". The National Democratic Front is a member of the Alliance of Bangladesh Political Parties. The Chakma Front supported the election of Allama Fazlur Rahman Chowdhury as Prime Minister in 1996. In the parliamentary election held in 2001, both Chakma Front and National Democratic Front candidates were elected to parliament. However, the National Democratic Front refused to vote with the government on its draft charter of home rule for the Chakma people. The government then dissolved the National Democratic Front, after which the Chakma Front created the Chittagong Hill Tracts National Liberation Front (CHTNLF). After the CHTNLF won the majority in the first election of the CHTNLF in 2003, the government of Bangladesh invited the CHTNLF to form the government. However, the government's draft of home rule was rejected by the Chakma people. The current main political party in the Chakma community is the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which supports the draft home rule charter. The state of the Chakma people in the 21st century is similar to that in the 20th century. The Chakma people have a high population growth rate and suffer from extreme poverty. Chakma land rights remain highly contested. The constitution and other laws provide some level of protection to the Chakma people. The Constitution of Bangladesh provides special rights and privileges to the Chakma people, including the right to hold public office, exemption from tax, the ability to form political parties, and the right to immigrate and acquire property abroad. The Chakma people also enjoy religious freedom, and the constitution protects their right to worship their traditional gods. The Chakma are also allowed to own guns, and there is no legislation that restricts the hunting of animals such as deer and wild boar. Under Article 20 of the constitution, a special high court was established to handle cases dealing with the Chakma people. The Chakma are also protected by Article 10 of the constitution, which declares that they have the right to special development measures for their community, in addition to other provisions. Under the constitution, the Chakma people are a part of a special category of indigenous people, which means that they are not considered a minority. In recognition of the special treatment afforded to the Chakma people, they have certain rights under certain laws, including the education, employment and housing provisions of the 1974 Constitution. They also enjoy certain protections under immigration law, and the 2003 Constitution provides a certain degree of protection to the Chakma people. The Government of Bangladesh established the Chittagong Hill Tracts Indigenous People Tribunal in 1996. The tribunal replaced the previous tribunals for the Muslim and Hindu minorities of Chittagong Hill Tracts. The tribunal is responsible for hearing cases involving the Chakma people. All rulings made by the tribunal are advisory, and cannot be enforced. The tribunal includes the Speaker of the National Parliament and several government ministers, but is not an independent court. The tribunal has jurisdiction over members of the Chakma community who have grievances against the state. The tribunal often rules against the government and in favor of the Chakma people. In 2001, it ruled in favor of the Chakma people over claims to land that were taken away by the government in the 1970s. In 2003, the tribunal ruled that the Chakma people should receive compensation from the government, for the damage done by the government during the 1984 air bombing campaign. Since the Chakma people have little political representation, the Bangladeshi government has refused to comply with some of the tribunal's rulings, and in some cases has rejected appeals. In February 2002, the tribunal ruled that the government had to compensate the Chakma people for land that was taken away by a military aeroplane during the 1984 campaign. In 2007, the Chakma people began a boycott of a periodical called "Rising Voice" because of its comments against them. The "Rising Voice" ran an editorial claiming that the Chakma people "embrace Maoism and supported the independence of the People's Republic of China". The Chakma people took issue with the newspaper's editorial, arguing that it was not entirely true, and that many of the people who had published it had supported military ruler Hussain Mohammad Ershad. In July 2008, the government approved plans to build a dam across the Subansiri River that the Chakma people believed would flood their traditional lands. The move was opposed by the Chakma people and other local people. In 2012, the government planned to construct a 4.4 km (2.9 miles) bridge across the Subansiri River, connecting Dhubri and Lushai. In response, hundreds of Chakma people marched to Dhubri, demanding that the bridge be moved, and that a new location be selected that would not flood their lands. The bridge was eventually built over the waterway in 2013. In July 2015, the Dhubri district administration announced that it would continue to move and demolish houses on government-owned land in the Chakma Basti community settlement area, even though the Supreme Court had ruled that such demolitions were illegal in 2014. More than 20,000 Chakma people had been affected by the demolitions, and approximately 3,000 of them had died. In May 2016, the state government demolished approximately 1,500 homes in Dhubri, alleging that the homes did not have proper permission to be built on government land. The government was ordered to pay compensation to those affected, but the government appealed against the ruling. In April 2018, the Supreme Court ordered the government to pay damages to the affected Chakma people. Although many observers praised the ruling, the government continued to defy the order. In January 2019, Bangladeshi newspaper "Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha" reported that the Supreme Court had ruled that the government must pay damages of Tk. 4.12 billion ($52,000) to the Chakma people, and must demolish about 100 more houses. It was not immediately clear how this would be done, and whether the Chakma people would have access to the land which they had not been able to use in the past. Religious discrimination was a significant issue in the Chakma refugee camps in Tripura, as Bangladeshi officials refused to grant the Chakma access to Hindu places of worship and several religious festivals. Some people who were not Chakma had been awarded scholarships to study in Tripura by the government. Several Bangladeshi Hindu families who had lost their homes and land in the 1984 eviction campaign were unable to obtain permission to settle in the Chakma Basti. Other Bangladeshi Hindus, who had not been involved in the conflict, were also denied the permission to settle in the Chakma Basti. However, according to Human Rights Watch, the government was undertaking certain steps to enable the resettlement of Chakma people, and issued land titles to several Chakma refugees. The Chakma people have been attacked in Bangladesh by Bengalis and their properties have been destroyed. On 12 April 2003, five paramilitary personnel were killed in a firefight with local residents in the Chakma Basti village. In October 2008, two people were killed and several injured when local Bengali men attacked a crowd of Chakma people, reportedly on the suspicion that they were supporters of Islamic militants. In April 2014, a Bangladeshi Hindu leader, identified as Chotu Roy, was found dead, his throat slit. The Awami League blamed local Islamic militants, and the government launched a security operation in the area. In September 2014, ten Hindu homes were burnt down in a retaliatory attack, and two people were killed and one injured. In May 2015, a Muslim mob set fire to a temple, three Hindu homes and an iron factory in the Chakma Basti. In July, five local Bengali businessmen were killed by unidentified assailants. The government stated that it suspected that Hindu nationalists were responsible for the attacks. In January 2018, ten people were killed in a gunfight between Bangladeshi Bengali nationalists and the Juktiya Party (an alliance of several local ethnic minority political parties, which favour greater rights for the Chakma and other ethnic groups). The government had earlier banned all public assembly of Chakma people, who had participated in a protest to commemorate the 1984 genocide. The government sent armed personnel to the Chakma Basti to prevent the eruption of further violence. The Myanmar side of the border has seen numerous incidents of Rohingya refugee persecution during the last decades. In early 2012, tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees fled from the Myanmar government to Bangladesh, alleging systematic violations of human rights and persecution by the Myanmar military. At least several Rohingya villages were burned down in October 2013 and over half a million Rohingya were internally displaced or forced to flee to neighbouring countries. Some people were also raped by Myanmar Army personnel. After the attacks, Bangladesh was obliged to consider further deportations of Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar. As a result of Myanmar's ethnic and religious violence against Rohingyas, Bangladesh deported over 34,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar from 2012 to June 2017. The Bangladesh government expressed "grave concern" that these deportations violated international law and expressed its commitment to ensure their well-being. On 29 July 2017, the Bangladesh government announced that it would push ahead with a controversial agreement with Myanmar which would give the country effective control over a long stretch of its border with Myanmar. The section of the border is known as the "Tri-Border Area" and was created after the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. The decision, which is vehemently opposed by refugees living in Bangladesh, is part of the Bilateral Agreement on the Reduction of Refugees and Transfer of Status, which was signed in Myanmar in August 1996. The accord set a target date of 2008 for the transfer of authorities. However, this target was not met and Bangladesh filed a plea in the International Court of Justice in March 2017, which upheld Bangladesh's right to unilaterally abolish the agreement. The government then sought bilateral agreement to resolve the border dispute. "The Daily Star" reported in early August that Bangladesh had deployed 400 troops to man the border in readiness for a possible refugee influx. One of Bangladesh's main international partners is China. Bangladesh shares a land border with India, with which it has close diplomatic ties, but it is the Indian state of West Bengal, with its 26 districts, which is the mainstay of Bangladeshi economic activity. India's eastern province has been the main producer of cotton and jute. Most industry and manufacturing in Bangladesh takes place in the Ganges Delta in the state. Both countries have expressed interest in industrialising the border region. The provision of power and other utilities from Bangladesh to India has been completed.