Gunshots shatter Sajek serenity

3,000 tourists evacuated from the valley amid clashes during blockade

Around 3,000 tourists stranded on the road from Sajek in Rangamati were escorted to Khagrachhari yesterday after clashes between supporters of a blockade and law enforcers and then a reported gunfight between the UPDF and security forces.

The army and police jointly conducted the evacuation and five army personnel and two police members were injured in the clashes. No tourists were injured, Rangamati Superintendent of Police Muhammad Abdur Rakib said.

The blockade was enforced by the Sajek Gano Odhikar Rokkha Committee and the Sajek Karbari Association (village headmen’s association) to press home three demands, including the removal of an armed group affiliated with the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS).

The protesters placed logs across the road at several points. Around 10:00am, they stopped a column of tourist vehicles returning from Sajek, the SP said at a press briefing at his office yesterday afternoon.

Heping Tripura, a lineman at the Sajek tourist centre, said tourists had left the valley around 8:30am in about 450 vehicles. The protesters intercepted those near Gangaram Bazar, around 25km from Sajek Valley.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) yesterday, army and police patrol teams tried to resolve the situation through dialogue. However, around 10:45am, the protesters, allegedly instigated by United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF) members, began throwing brick chunks and stones at law enforcers and tourists.

Law enforcers then used truncheons to disperse the protesters and clear the road.

ISPR, citing preliminary information, claimed that armed UPDF members around 11:00am fired 30-40 shots at law enforcers and tourists.

Army personnel returned fire in self-defence and to protect the tourists, forcing the armed men to flee, the statement said. The army and police then evacuated the stranded tourists.

The ISPR claimed that the blockade and ensuing violence were planned. It said UPDF members had intimidated locals into joining the blockade and used them as human shields.

It also claimed that some armed UPDF members had moved into tourist areas after coming under pressure from ongoing security operations in different parts of the Chattogram Hill Tracts.

In a statement yesterday, UPDF spokesperson Angya Marma described reports of a gunfight between the army and an armed group in Sajek as “completely false and fabricated”.

He said the group found no evidence of a gunfight after speaking to locals. Instead, he alleged, security personnel fired shots in different directions to break up a peaceful road blockade by locals demanding the removal of an armed group affiliated with the PCJSS Santu faction.

Angya condemned what he described as attacks, truncheon charges, vandalism of homes and intimidation of peaceful protesters. He urged the authorities to meet the locals’ demands, withdraw the armed members of the PCJSS Santu group from Sajek and take action against them.

Babudhan Chakma, convener of the Sajek Gano Odhikar Rokkha Committee, which enforced the blockade, also disputed the security forces’ account.

Speaking to The Daily Star, he alleged that law enforcers first used truncheons and then threw brick chunks and stones at protesters.

“When the protesters refused to leave, the law enforcement personnel opened fire on them. Now, the law enforcement agencies are blaming the protesters,” he said.

He claimed that more than 57 civilians had been injured by truncheon charges and gunfire by security forces and that the number could rise. He also alleged that law enforcers were preventing the injured from being taken to hospitals.Residents of Ujo Bazar and several people living in nearby areas had also been forced to leave their homes and shops, he said.

Tourist Sanjida Akter told The Daily Star that the blockade worried them.

“Just before evening on Wednesday, we suddenly heard that an organisation had called a road blockade. On our way back today [Thursday], the protesters stopped our vehicles. Despite the fear and anxiety, we managed to reach Khagrachhari safely. I will feel relieved when we reach home in Dhaka by bus tonight [Thursday],” she said.

The two organisations announced an indefinite blockade of the road to Sajek tourist centre on Wednesday afternoon. Following the announcement, the district administration suspended tourist travel to the valley from that evening and asked tourists to leave by 4:00pm yesterday.

Jugeshwar Tripura, an employee of Sampari Guest House in Sajek, said he was returning home after the tourist centre was declared closed.

“When we reached Ujo Bazar, we saw that the vehicles had been stopped. Later, members of the law enforcement agencies escorted our vehicles and brought us here,” he said.

Babudhan Chakma earlier told The Daily Star that their three demands were the removal of armed PCJSS members from Sajek, an end to death threats against innocent people, and a halt to searches of ordinary people’s homes by law enforcement agencies.

The organisations had first enforced an indefinite blockade on October 11. They later presented their demands to the administration and suspended the blockade for two days after receiving assurances. When the demands remained unmet, they resumed the blockade on October 15.

The blockade was suspended during Durga Puja but has now resumed, with the organisations saying their demands remain unmet.

Contacted, Nagendra Chakma, general secretary of the PCJSS Rangamati district unit, dismissed the allegations against his organisation as baseless.

“The PCJSS has no activities in Sajek and is not involved in the incidents taking place there,” he said.

Meanwhile, another indigenous community organisation, Chhatra Janata Sangram Parishad, called a half-day blockade in Rangamati and Khagrachhari on Saturday. 

In a press release issued yesterday, the organisation said it called the blockade in protest against attacks, truncheon charges and vandalism during yesterday’s blockade in Sajek.

Opposition Leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman expressed concern over the tourists being stranded and reports of a gunfight.

In a post on his verified Facebook page around 2:15pm yesterday, he asked, “What is happening centring Sajek in Baghaichari upazila of Rangamati district?

“Instead of chasing false intelligence, clear steps need to be taken in this regard based on accurate intelligence.

“No one has the right to play with the lives of ordinary citizens. Take appropriate action while there is still time,” he added.