The name of Kalpana Chakma, the 25-year-old indigenous rights activist, working as organising secretary of the Hill Women's Federation, who disappeared in 1996, became newly known to a generation of Bangladeshis during the July-August Movement that felled the Awami League government. They became interested in who she was, and what happened to her, after one of her unusually perceptive quotes ("Everything that is experimented on the Hills, will one day be implemented in the plains") went viral as the movement was reaching its crescendo.

In June 1996, Kalpana Chakma had been campaigning in local elections for an independent candidate, who had widespread support among indigenous civil society groups. On June 12, election day, she was forcibly disappeared - taken from her home in Rangamati by a group of plain-clothed security personnel in the small hours. She has not been seen since. Although many who fell victim to enforced disappearance during the Awami League regime subsequently returned in the days following the ignominious exit of Hasina, Kalpana still remains lost to us all.

It wasn't just Kalpana that the protesters learned about. For many of the Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids who provided the backbone to the movement, it was a chance to learn about the troubles in our 'hills' - Khagrachari, Bandarban and Rangamati - the three districts comprising the Chittagong Hill Tracts. By the end, murals depicting Kalpana's disappearance, her story, the story of her people, the people of the hills, the Paharis, started appearing on walls around the country.

But it wasn't till the weekend of September 19-20, around six weeks into post-revolution Bangladesh, that we had a chance to see the frightening toll of life under military rule for the indigenous population in the hills, on the wrong side of a tense divide between the local indigenous population on one side, and Bengali settlers on the other.

On the dates mentioned, four indigenous men were killed - including two in indiscriminate firing by the army - besides several getting injured including both men and women, during violent attacks that occurred in waves over a period of 36 hours starting on the evening of September 19 in Khagrachari and Rangamati. During the attacks, which occurred almost exclusively in areas mainly inhabited by the indigenous communities, the Bengali settlers burnt, looted several homes, and business properties belonging to indigenous peoples.

According to the Kapaeeng Foundation, which advocates for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh, the violence had its roots in an incident on September 18 (Wednesday) when a Bengali settler was caught by a mob while attempting to steal a motorbike in the Nowapara area of Khagrachari Sadar. Abdul Baten Mridha, the OC of Khagrachari Police Station, initially said the man died after hitting an electric pole while trying to flee with the stolen motorbike. Local sources however confirmed that after hitting the electric pole, the individual was beaten by a mob comprising both Bengalis and Jumma people, and later died.

After hearing about the death of the deceased Bengali person, the Bengali settler community started blaming the entire Jumma community and on September 19, launched protest processions in Dighinala at around 4pm. At one point, the Bengali settlers started indiscriminately attacking Jumma individuals and setting fire to their homes and businesses in the Dighinala Station area. More than a hundred houses and business establishments adjacent to Larma Square of Dighinala, mainly belonging to the indigenous community came under arson attack. At least one person, Dhananjoy Chakma (50) from Udol Bagan of Dighinala, was killed and three indigenous Chakma men were seriously injured during the incident.

On the same day at night, a group of Jumma students and youth blocked the Khagrachari-Panchari road at Swanirvor area and Narankheya area points to protest the Dighinala attack. At around 9pm several groups of military personnel appeared there. This created tension and altercations between the two. There is an allegation, with videos floating around on social media to back it up, that at one point the army opened fire there. This caused the death of two indigenous youths: Junan Chakma (22), son of Rupayan Chakma from Dharmapur area of Perachara village of Khagrachari Sadar, and Rubel Tripura (24), son of Garjan Muni Tripura from Paltan Joy Para of Perachara village of Khagrachari. Another nine were left injured. Among the injured, four were critically injured and referred to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital for better treatment.

The next day, a group of indigenous Jumma students in Rangamati brought out a protest rally under the banner of Hill Students Movement Against Conflict and Discrimination against the killings in Dighinala and Khagrachari. According to witnesses, the protest rally came under attack by Bengali settlers, sparking an escalation in violence throughout the city in different areas. But the attacks were mostly in the areas inhabited by the indigenous peoples, burning their businesses, houses and destroying their properties and leaving little room for doubt as to who were the perpetrators.

The Kapaeeng Foundation spoke to witnesses in Rangamati town who reported that several establishments belonging to indigenous peoples in Kalindipur, Bijon Sarani, Dewan Para, Tridip Nagar, and Banarupa were torched by the settlers. The office of Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council (CHTRC) was vandalised and set on fire by the Bengali settlers during the attack. Besides that, a Buddhist temple, namely the Moitri Bihara, situated in Kathaltoli of Rangamati Sadar area, was attacked and looted during the chaos.

A Jumma student named Anik Kumar Chakma (22) from Noadam, Dhanpata under Rangamati Sadar, was killed by Bengali settlers near the New Market area of Rangamati town that day.

The full extent of the property damaged is yet to be determined. On September 20, afternoon the local administration imposed section 144 in Rangamati and Khagrachari to bring the situation under control.

Following the incidents in Khagrachari and Rangamati, different organisations and platforms staged protest rallies in different places of the country, which the Kapaeeng Foundation documented in its report.

In Chittagong, indigenous people staged a demonstration at Cheragi Pahar intersection in Chittagong city protesting the attacks on their communities in Khagrachari. Several hundred people attended the rally on September 21. The speakers of the rally said since the criminals were not punished earlier in such cases in the CHT, these sorts of incidents are happening repeatedly. They demanded exemplary punishment of the perpetrators.

Thousands of people belonging to indigenous communities staged a demonstration at Dhaka University campus against the attack and killing in Dighinala and Khagrachari on September 20. The speakers demanded impartial investigation of the incident and punishment of the culprits. At the same time, they also demanded withdrawal of military rule from the CHT and immediate implementation of the CHT Accord 1997. Later, the protesters blocked the Shahbagh intersection at around 11:45am and staged a half-hour sit-in.

On September 21, the Indigenous Students, Youth and General Public of Plain Land organised a protest rally and demonstration at TSC, Dhaka University. The speakers demanded the immediate arrest of the perpetrators, implementation of CHT Accord 1997, provide compensation, medical support to the victims and affected families, and security to the public properties in three hill districts and to conduct investigation by forming an investigation committee under United Nations and publish the report publicly from the protest rally and procession. More than 500 indigenous peoples, belonging to different indigenous communities of both the plains and Chittagong Hill Tracts were present.

The indigenous students of Jahangirnagar University blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway in protest of Dighinala and Khagrachari incidents at around 4:20 pm on September 20. Before that, they organised a student march that paraded in the campus.

In Rajshahi, several hundred indigenous students from RU and Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology gathered on Paris Road at RU to protest the attacks.

The Chief Adviser's office issued a statement on September 20 asking all the citizens in Chittagong Hill Tracts to stay calm and maintain peace in the region. The statement also mentioned the government is working on this issue and assured that all the perpetrators behind all these incidents must be punished.

On September 21, a high-level government delegation headed by the adviser of the Ministry of Home Affairs Lieutenant General (Retired) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury visited Rangamati and Khagrachari. Other members of the delegation were - CHT Ministry adviser Supradip Chakma, and Land and Local Government Ministry adviser AF Hasan Arif. The delegation visited Rangamati and Khagrachari hill district respectively. They had meetings with local political leaders, traditional leaders, eminent personalities, representatives from business and trade bodies, media outlets, law enforcement agencies, CHT Regional Council and government officials.

The advisers asked all parties to maintain harmony and peace in the hills and requested leaders to play their due role in this regard. Law enforcement agencies were asked to show maximum restraint. The delegation assured those they met in both districts that a high-level probe body comprising some senior officials will be formed to investigate the recent violence.

Almost a week later at the time of writing however, law enforcement agencies are not known to have arrested any of the perpetrators involved with the attacks and killings.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission and International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs released a statement on September 21, where they said: "If the security personnel who fired on unarmed students during the recent student movement that ended Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian rule can be brought to justice, we believe the military personnel who opened fire on unarmed Jumma people yesterday night should also be held accountable."

They said they had collected the video footage circulating on the internet of the incident. The statement called for the withdrawal of the executive order related to 'Operation Uttoron,' which places civilian administration and law enforcement in CHT under military control. Furthermore, it urged the removal of all temporary military and security force camps in CHT, except for the six military bases as outlined in the 1997 CHT Accord. It ended with a call for steps to be taken to facilitate the dignified relocation of settlers from CHT.

*The Jumma is a collective term for the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh.