The persecution of Chakma Christians in Khagrachhari is a largely forgotten chapter in the history of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. From the early 2000s, Christian families in several UPDF-controlled areas reported church destruction, social exclusion, physical attacks, restrictions on worship, and pressure to return to Buddhism.
The United People’s Democratic Front, widely known as the UPDF, has long presented itself as a political organization fighting for the rights, dignity, and full autonomy of the Indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It has spoken about national freedom, self-determination, and the right of the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to control their own future.
But a movement cannot demand freedom for a nation while denying freedom to individuals within that nation. A political organization cannot ask the state to respect the rights of the Chakma people while refusing to respect the personal faith of a Chakma man or woman.
Every Chakma person has the right to remain Buddhist, become Christian or Hindu, follow a traditional Indigenous religion, or practise no religion at all. That decision belongs to the individual. No political party, armed organisation, village court, traditional leader or religious institution has the right to choose another person’s faith.
From the early 2000s, however, Christians in several UPDF-controlled areas of Khagrachhari faced serious persecution. Churches were destroyed or burned, Christian worship was stopped, families were excluded from village society, fines were imposed, believers were beaten, and some were forced to take part in Buddhist religious rituals.
The persecution did not remain limited to social pressure. In several places, Christians were threatened with violence if they refused to leave their faith. Pastors were assaulted, Christmas services were stopped, and Christian families were forced to live in fear inside their own villages.
The most terrible event came in 2013, when Pastor Arun Kanti Chakma was taken from his home and shot dead. His killing was not an isolated event. It came after years of church destruction, social exclusion, physical attacks and pressure on Christians in Panchhari and nearby areas. This history is based on local Christian records, eyewitness accounts and the detailed account preserved by the community.
The Political Context: Accord and Anti-Accord Areas
An important part of this history is the difference between areas controlled by supporters of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord and areas controlled by anti-Accord forces.
According to local Christian accounts, some incidents also occurred in areas under the influence of the PCJSS, which supported and signed the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord. However, those incidents were very limited compared with the widespread, organised and long-term persecution reported in areas controlled by the anti-Accord UPDF.
This difference matters. The main issue is not whether only one political side ever mistreated Christians. The main issue is the scale, pattern and continuity of the persecution.
In UPDF-controlled areas, the attacks were not limited to one family, one village or one year. They appeared in different forms across Panchhari, Mahalchhari and nearby areas.
In one village, Christians were fined and socially boycotted. In another, a church was destroyed. In another place, Christians were beaten and taken to a Buddhist temple. Elsewhere, Christmas worship was banned.
These events show a wider pattern. Christians were treated as though changing their religion was a crime against society and politics. In many cases, their faith was seen not as a personal matter but as a challenge to the authority of local political leaders.
Was UPDF Called an Islamic Fundamentalist Organisation?
It is sometimes said that international Christian organisations described UPDF as an “Islamic fundamentalist organisation.” That wording is not fully accurate.
UPDF is not an Islamic organisation, and there is no reliable evidence that a major international Christian institution formally declared it to be an Islamic organisation. The comparison was about its behaviour, not its religious identity.
International Christian media and church leaders compared the treatment of Christians in UPDF-controlled areas with the methods used by terrorist and religious extremist groups.
Rev. Leor P. Sarkar, who was then general secretary of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Fellowship, described the persecution in Khagrachhari as another form of Buddhist religious extremism. He questioned how a political organisation could claim to be civilised and committed to human rights while stopping Christians from practising their religion.
The reported methods were similar to methods used by religious fundamentalists in many parts of the world. Christians were ordered to leave their faith, worship was prohibited, churches were destroyed, communities were threatened, families were socially excluded, and believers were forced to take part in another religion’s rituals.
Fundamentalism does not belong to only one religion. If a Muslim extremist forces a Christian to accept Islam, that is religious fundamentalism. In the same way, if a Buddhist, Hindu, Christian or political organisation forces a person to accept or return to a particular religion, that is also religious fundamentalism.
This criticism is not directed against Buddhism. Buddhism itself cannot be blamed for the actions of political leaders or local extremists. The criticism is directed against coercion, violence and the use of religion as a tool of political control.
Social Exclusion and Forced Religious Rituals in Brajamohan Para
One of the early major incidents took place in Brajamohan Para in Panchhari. At the beginning of 2005, members of 17 families accepted Christianity and were baptised.
Among them were Uchchadhan Chakma, Prem Kumar Chakma, Sukhoy Chakma and Anjali Bap. Together with other believers, they established the Brajamohan Para Christian congregation.
In 2006, the Christians built a small church using wooden posts and bamboo walls. The building was simple, but it became the centre of their religious life. They began to worship there regularly.
After regular worship started, the Christian families were excluded from village society. They were treated as people who had betrayed their community. Some were physically assaulted, while others were punished financially.
According to the history preserved by local Christians, Prem Kumar Chakma, Sukhoy Chakma, Anjali Bap, Uchchadhan Chakma and one other person were beaten and fined. The name of the fifth person was not preserved in the surviving account.
The punishment did not end with beatings and fines. They were reportedly taken to the village Buddhist temple and forced to remain there for seven days. During that time, they were required to take part in Buddhist religious rituals.
This was not a simple disagreement between neighbours. It was not an ordinary village dispute. Force was being used to change people’s religious beliefs.
A local leader responsible for the UPDF’s judicial activities was accused of leading the persecution. Christians were reportedly forced to pay a fine of 50,000 taka.
According to local accounts, that leader was later expelled from the organisation after being accused of taking the money for himself. There were also other complaints against him concerning his treatment of Christians and abuse of power.
The events in Brajamohan Para showed how religion, village authority and political control had become connected. Christians were not only criticised for changing their faith. They were punished by a system that treated their personal religious decision as an offence.
The Destruction of Tapita Para Church
Another major centre of persecution was Tapita Para. Toward the end of 2005, around 30 families there accepted Christianity and were baptised.
Among them were Arun Kanti Chakma, Prajjwalon Chakma and Kalalo Chakma. Because Arun Kanti Chakma was educated, he was appointed pastor of the new congregation.
In 2006, the Christians built a small church with bamboo walls. The building was not expensive or large. It was simply a place where the new believers could pray, sing and worship together.
Only two months later, the church was destroyed. The Christian families were then excluded from community life and placed under social and economic pressure.
Later, a group attacked Christian farmers in the area. Several believers were badly injured during the attack.
Pastor Arun Kanti Chakma suffered serious injuries to his head, arms, legs and other parts of his body. His condition was critical.
The attackers reportedly waited near Pujgang Mukh to stop the injured Christians from travelling to Panchhari for medical treatment. This meant that the attack was not limited to beating them. There was also an effort to prevent them from receiving help.
Because the normal road was blocked, the badly wounded pastor had to leave through the eastern side of the village. He crossed the difficult Gallomon, also known as Gallo Mountain, and walked toward Dighinala.
At that time, there was no transport on that route. The journey from Tapita Para to Dighinala took almost an entire day on foot.
Arun Kanti Chakma continued the journey while seriously injured. He eventually reached Khagrachhari in a critical condition and lost consciousness after arriving there.
He was first taken to Khagrachhari Hospital for emergency treatment. Because of the seriousness of his injuries, he was later transferred to Chattogram for further medical care.
He remained under treatment for several months. After recovering, he returned to his village and resumed his work as a pastor.
The destruction of his church did not stop him. Social exclusion did not stop him. A brutal attack that almost killed him also failed to make him abandon his faith.
His return was an act of courage. He came back to the same community where he had been attacked and continued to serve Christians who were living under fear and pressure.
The Burning of Tarabon Church
The persecution also reached Tarabon in Panchhari. Tarabon is located under Chengi Union, where a Christian place of worship had been established.
According to local Christian history and eyewitness accounts, Tarabon Church was attacked and set on fire. The church building was burned down.
Burning a church is not only the destruction of bamboo, timber, roofing sheets and walls. It sends a frightening message to a small religious community.
The message was clear: your faith is not safe here, your worship is not welcome here, and your religious identity can make you a target.
The burning of Tarabon Church should not be treated as an isolated event. It happened within the same wider environment in which Christians in Brajamohan Para were fined and forced into religious rituals, and Christians in Tapita Para had their church destroyed and their farmers attacked.
The incidents were different, but the purpose was similar. Christians were pressured to understand that they could not freely practise their religion.
Christians Beaten in Madhya Lemuchhari
Another shocking incident took place in Madhya Lemuchhari under Mahalchhari Upazila. On 16 April 2010, Pastor Sushil Jibon Talukder of Madhya Lemuchhari Baptist Church was taken away with Bimal Kanti Chakma and Lakshmi Bilash Chakma.
According to a report by the international Christian news service Compass Direct News, people associated with UPDF beat the three Christians and detained them in a Buddhist temple.
Pastor Sushil Jibon Talukder was reportedly beaten so badly that he could no longer walk. His injuries were so serious that he had to be carried to the temple on a wooden stretcher normally used to carry dead bodies.
The three men were not only beaten. Their heads were shaved, and they were dressed in saffron robes.
Religious rituals were then started to force them back into Buddhism. This was a direct attack on their freedom of conscience.
Other Christians were reportedly forced to destroy their own church. They had to take part in the destruction of the place where they had prayed and worshipped.
Bibles, hymnbooks and blankets were also taken from the church. The attack was therefore not only against the building. It was directed against the religious identity and daily life of the entire Christian congregation.
The international report said that pressure had continued since the church was established in early 2007. The Christians were not attacked because of a recent political conflict.
They had been living under pressure for years. They were repeatedly told to leave Christianity and return to Buddhism.
The Christians were given a fixed period in which to return to their former religion. They were warned that they would face the same punishment as the three men if they refused.
There was no political dispute between these Christians and UPDF. They were not members of a rival political party.
Their only “offence” was that they had become Christians and refused to abandon their faith.
Christmas Worship Stopped in Seven Churches
The situation became even clearer during Christmas in 2010. Christians in at least seven churches in Khagrachhari were prevented from holding Christmas worship services.
International reports named Kalapani Bethlehem Church, Choto Panchhari Baptist Church and Shuknachhari Baptist Church. The names of the other four churches were not published.
At Kalapani Bethlehem Church, food had been prepared for around 100 people. The Christian families had gathered to celebrate Christmas together.
They were allowed to eat the food, but they were not allowed to hold worship. They could not play the harmonium or drums, sing Christian songs, pray together or even worship quietly.
They were warned that holding a worship service could bring serious consequences. This meant that even peaceful prayer was treated as a threat.
The Christians at Choto Panchhari Baptist Church were also prevented from celebrating Christmas. The pastor was reportedly ordered to leave his position and return to Buddhism.
The pressure was not directed only at Christians. Local Buddhist villagers were also threatened.
They were told that they could face punishment if they allowed Christians to celebrate Christmas. In this way, fear was used to turn the wider village community against the Christians.
The pastor and several members of Shuknachhari Baptist Church were forced to live like refugees in their own area for several months.
They could not live normally in their village. They had to hide, move carefully and depend on others for safety.
There were 18 Christian families in the village. According to the report, only seven or eight families remained Christian under pressure.
The others were forced to return to Buddhism. Their religious identity was changed not through free choice but through fear and intimidation.
Preventing Christmas worship in at least seven churches at the same time is important evidence. It shows that these were not simply personal disputes or isolated village incidents.
There was a wider effort to stop Christian religious activities. The same methods appeared in several places: threats, pressure on pastors, restrictions on worship and orders to return to Buddhism.
The Killing of Pastor Arun Kanti Chakma
The persecution reached its darkest point with the killing of Pastor Arun Kanti Chakma.
On the night of 13 July 2013, an armed group entered his home in Tapita Para.
According to local Christian witnesses, church records and residents of the area, the armed men were members of UPDF.
They took him a short distance away from his home and shot him dead.
He was shot twice in the head and twice in the chest. He was also shot near the area between his chest and armpit.
This was not an accidental shooting. It was not a sudden argument between neighbours.
He was taken from his home and killed in a planned and brutal manner.
National news reports at the time described the killers as unidentified armed men. The national media did not publicly name the organisation responsible for the murder.
However, local Christian witnesses, church records and people from the area identified the killers as members of UPDF.
The failure of national media to name the killers does not automatically erase what local people witnessed and recorded. Many events in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have remained unclear in national reporting because journalists often depend on official statements and cannot freely investigate armed groups in remote areas.
Arun Kanti Chakma was not a member of a regional political party. He was not known as an armed activist or political organiser.
He was a Christian pastor.
His church had already been destroyed. He had been badly beaten in an earlier attack.
His attackers had even tried to stop him from receiving medical treatment. Still, he survived, returned home and continued to serve his congregation.
Social exclusion could not silence him. The destruction of his church could not silence him. Even the attack that nearly killed him could not force him to leave his faith.
In the end, he was taken from his home and killed.
His murder spread fear throughout the Christian community in Panchhari and surrounding areas. Christians understood that the danger was no longer limited to fines, social boycotts or church destruction.
A pastor had now been killed.
His mission colleague, Malsom Bawm, was forced to leave his home and land in Pujgang and flee to Bandarban.
Workers connected with Tarabon Presbyterian Church, Gospel for Asia and other Christian organisations also faced threats.
Several local Christian leaders became afraid for their lives. Some reduced their activities, while others left the area.
The killing of Pastor Arun Kanti Chakma was the most terrible result of a long period of persecution. The violence had begun with social pressure and church destruction.
It later moved to beatings, forced religious rituals and organised threats. Finally, it ended in murder.
Political Instability After the Murder
The situation became even more difficult after 2013. Regional political conflict increased across Khagrachhari and Rangamati.
Different political groups competed for control of territory, local influence and election-related power. Violence, abduction and killing increased in many parts of the hills.
In preparation for the 2014 elections, the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, UPDF, the reformist Jana Samhati Samiti associated with the Manabendra Narayan Larma group, and other regional forces became more active in securing territory and political influence.
The political instability affected ordinary villagers. It also affected churches, pastors and religious workers.
Christians were already a small minority within Indigenous society. They had little political protection and no armed force of their own.
They were caught between social hostility, religious pressure and regional political conflict.
Many Christian families became afraid to worship openly. They feared social exclusion, fines, physical assault and political suspicion.
Some were afraid that openly identifying themselves as Christians would place their families in danger. Others worried that their children would be targeted or excluded from village life.
The suffering of Chakma Christians in Khagrachhari is therefore not only a story about religion. It is also a story about power.
Political organisations used village authority, fear and armed influence to control personal belief. Local religious pressure was sometimes supported by political power.
Why This History Must Be Preserved
This history must be recorded carefully. If it is not written now, future generations may be told that these events never happened.
The names of the victims may disappear. The destroyed churches may be forgotten.
The families that were beaten, fined and forced to leave their faith may one day be treated as though they never existed.
Much of this history survives through eyewitness testimony, church records, family memories and reports preserved by Christian organisations. Some details may still require further documentation, but the absence of complete state records does not mean the suffering did not happen.
Remote communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have often been left outside national attention. Many victims had no access to journalists, lawyers or human rights organisations.
For this reason, local testimony must be preserved before the witnesses become old or die. Church records, baptism lists, medical records, photographs, family statements and newspaper reports should all be collected.
Without documentation, powerful organisations can deny responsibility. Victims can be forgotten, and history can be rewritten by those who controlled the area.
A Genuine Rights Movement Protects Religious Freedom
A genuine movement for national rights never interferes with religious freedom. A real rights-based political party protects the freedom of every person, including people whose beliefs differ from those of the majority.
A party that demands self-determination for a nation cannot deny freedom of conscience to individuals within that same nation. Collective rights and individual rights are not enemies; they must exist together.
A nation cannot become free by creating a new form of oppression inside its own society. When a political movement destroys religious freedom in the name of national liberation, it stops being a liberation movement and becomes another system of fear and control.
From 2000 to 2026, the people of the hills witnessed the political decline of UPDF. The organisation once controlled large areas through weapons, fear and political pressure, and many people were afraid to speak against it.
Over time, however, the organisation became divided, politically isolated and weakened by internal conflict. The people of the hills saw that decline with their own eyes.
No organisation can secure permanent public support through weapons and intimidation. Fear may control people for a period, but it cannot create respect, trust or lasting political loyalty.
A movement cannot claim to liberate a people while silencing different opinions, persecuting religious minorities and destroying their places of worship.
Any future political movement seeking freedom for the Chittagong Hill Tracts must be religiously neutral, democratic and respectful of every faith. Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and followers of traditional Indigenous religions must all enjoy equal rights.
No religion should be treated as the official identity of the Indigenous political struggle. No political party should decide which religion an Indigenous person must follow.
Religious neutrality is not a weakness. It is essential for unity, justice and genuine freedom.
Without religious neutrality, any organisation that comes to the hills in the name of liberation will eventually fall into the dustbin of history. A party that cannot protect vulnerable people and religious minorities within its own society can never lead a nation toward genuine freedom.
Justice Has Still Not Been Done
There has been no justice for the killing of Pastor Arun Kanti Chakma, no justice for the burning of Tarabon Church, and no justice for the churches destroyed in Tapita Para, Madhya Lemuchhari and other places.
The believers who were beaten and forced to take part in Buddhist rituals have not received justice. The families excluded from society have received no compensation.
The Christians forced to leave their faith have received no public apology. The religious workers who fled their homes have not recovered everything they lost.
Still, this history must be written and preserved for the families who suffered in silence, for the pastors who continued their work despite threats, for the churches that were destroyed, and for future generations.
Most importantly, it must be written so that no one can later claim that the persecution of Chakma Christians in Khagrachhari never happened.
Author’s Note:
This article is dedicated to the memory of Pastor Arun Kanti Chakma.
The accompanying photograph was reportedly taken around the middle of 2010 after an attack on Adison Chakma’s Assembly of God Church. A traditional bamboo fish trap was hung outside the church, allegedly by UPDF supporters, to mock and humiliate the Christian congregation.
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