Hill Voice, 16 June 2020, Rangamati:  Five organizations, including the Women’s Resource Network and the Chittagong Hill Tracts Citizens Committee(CHTCC), have strongly condemned and protested the killing of Jumma woman Shantilata Tanchangya and the injury of her six-year-old son Arjun Tanchangya in Rowangchhari of Bandarban.

These organizations have demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident to bring the perpetrators to justice, provide compensation to the affected families, provide full medical care to the injured child and ensure the safety of livelihood and movement in the hills.

On 15 July 15 2020 Wednesday, the protests and demands were made in a statement sent to the media by Shefalika Tripura, the Central Coordinator of the Women’s Resource Network,.

The statement claimed that the outbreak of the corona virus has disrupted life and livelihood across the country. On the other hand, there is a flood of blood in the constant terrorist attacks in the hills. The lives and property of the Jummapeople are now in dire straits.

Shantilata Tanchangya, 30, a Jum farmer, was shot dead and her six-year-old son Arjun Tanchangya was shot in the leg in Rowangchhari of Bandarban on 10 July Friday. According to Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Rowangchhari Police Station Touhid Kabir, Shantilata and her son were shot in the midst of gunfire between the army and terrorists.

The statement further said that ordinary people living in remote areas of the hills depend on Jum cultivation, fishing in streams and Jhiri-Jharna and collecting forest resources for their livelihood. Innocent hill people, especially women, are seen to be victims of violence by going to these places for livelihood. In the past, while working in Jum, many women and children have been the victims of various terrorist activities.

After the brutal incident in Rowangchhari on Friday 10 July, the hill people are now suffering from insecurity. The incident is also a threat to the freedom of movement and struggle for livelihood in an independent country. The number of security personnel in the hills is much higher than in any other part of the country. Yet again and again these unwelcome and unwanted incidents have become a source of frustration and fear for all conscious democratic people, including marginalized peace-loving people.

The statement said that in order to ensure a peaceful environment in the hills, it is important that the incidents be brought to justice through a judicial inquiry. So that the procession of the culture of impunity can no longer be protracted for the sake of humanity firstly and secondly for the sake of national dignity. And as if such incidents do not happen again. Other organizations issuing statements are the Women Headman Karbari Network, Nari Paksha and the National Network of Women’s Organizations Foundation Durbar.