manifesto, where it states that the party’s main objective is
to achieve the right of self-determination of the various
small nationalities in the CHT with a separate entity status of
the CHT with a constitutional guarantee. It recognises that
the CHT is the homeland of various multi-lingual
nationalities, who together have been referred to as the
Jumma people. The nostalgia for the past, on the one hand,
creates images of ‘outsiders’ and ‘insiders’ among the hill
people, and on the other, provides them with a sense of
community and unity.
With a view to realising Jumma nationalism by way of
autonomy for the hill people, during the period of insurgency
the PCJSS set out a number of demands: i) the Constitution
of Bangladesh shall recognise the CHT as a special
administrative unit, with regional autonomy. The three
districts of the CHT shall be merged into one unit, and the
region shall be renamed Jummaland; ii) Jummaland shall be
administered by an autonomous Regional Council, which
shall be elected directly by the people on the basis of adult
franchise. The Council shall be responsible for 30 subjects
including, inter alia, general administration, law and order,
police, land, education, forestry, local government
institutions, and cultural affairs; iii) all lands in the CHT,
except some important government establishment, shall be
placed under the jurisdiction of the Council. A constitutional
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Dabeenama (Charter of Demands of the PCJSS to the Government of
Bangladesh), JSS Publications, 1992 and 1996.