Sohel Chakma<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \nWhenever someone speaks logically about the movement, struggle, or politics in the hills, the army, JSS (Santu), and other reactionary forces quickly tag them as being with the ‘UPDF. Even if someone merely protests injustice, they are not spared from being branded with this tag. It is generously and liberally handed out.<\/p>\n In some religions, questioning doctrines, expressing doubts, or applying logic is considered heresy, punishable by sanctions. Similarly, you cannot question the politics or programs of the JSS Santu faction. If anyone does, or speaks with reason, they are immediately told: \u201cYou\u2019re with the UPDF, you think you know better,\u201d etc. In this way, the JSS Santu faction uses the \u201cUPDF tag\u201d as a weapon to silence dissent.<\/p>\n But the question is: why do they use this tag? The act of tagging is actually a strategy \u2013 one meant to keep progressive and activist forces divided. Because they know that if the people unite and struggle together, the consequences for the reactionaries will be dire. That’s why they constantly deploy various tactics to prevent the people from uniting under proper leadership and organizing under the right parties and organizations.<\/p>\n Currently, two distinct trends dominate the politics of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. One is led by the JSS (Santu faction) \u2013 an extremely reactionary, opportunistic, and subservient trend. The other is a progressive, uncompromising, movement-oriented trend. The first one \u2013 the opportunistic and subservient line led by Santu Larma \u2013 is backed by the army and DGFI. Naturally, they are opposed to any struggle. That\u2019s why the military establishment makes every effort to keep this trend dominant.<\/p>\n On the other hand, the UPDF is the only party in the hills that is consistently fighting against the army’s repression, violence against women, and land grabbing. They proudly uphold the long-cherished dream of the people of the hills \u2013 autonomy. Naturally, the politics of UPDF are disliked by the army and the ruling forces. At the same time, reactionaries like the JSS Santu group oppose the UPDF because the UPDF’s activism and politics expose their true faces \u2013 their betrayal, opportunism, and reactionary nature.<\/p>\n The reactionaries want to deprive the people of proper leadership, because no movement can succeed without correct leadership. That\u2019s why the army represses the UPDF \u2013 the leading party of the current movement. This repression is visible to the general public. Through such repression, they also try to intimidate the masses: \u201cIf you protest like the UPDF, if you struggle against injustice, you too will be jailed, tortured.\u201d So, to keep people away from the movement and separate them from UPDF\u2019s politics of resistance, they attach \u201cUPDF tag\u201d to them \u2013 so that they get scared and remain silent like \u201cgood boys.\u201d<\/p>\n In this way, reactionaries have long succeeded in frightening many with this \u201ctag.\u201d But now, their tactic is no longer effective. People are no longer afraid of being tagged. This sentiment was recently echoed by a coordinator of the \u201cAnti-discrimination and Anti-conflict Student Movement\u201d in the hills. He wrote on his Facebook:<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know about the future, but given the current reality, if someone isn\u2019t labeled with the UPDF tag while fighting for the rights of the Jumma people \u2013 then they really need to question whether they\u2019re even on the right path of the struggle!\u201d<\/p>\n People in the hills now understand: rights cannot be achieved without struggle. Therefore, all activist forces must unite.<\/p>\n Throughout history, those who stood for justice, freedom, and rights have been relentlessly oppressed by ruling classes. That is the harsh reality. The path to freedom and rights has never been easy, simple, or smooth. During British rule, were not the freedom fighters brutally oppressed? We know that Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, and others were repeatedly jailed by the British. Countless revolutionaries were hanged, exiled, tortured \u2013 the full list is hard to compile. Yet the British could not destroy the Congress Party, and in the end, they were forced to grant India independence.<\/p>\n After Partition, parties like NAP and Awami League faced brutal repression from the West Pakistani rulers \u2013 a fact that many know. Yet, people supported the Awami League back then (even though it later became a fascist party \u2013 not the focus here), and ultimately, the Pakistani rulers were forced to withdraw from what is now Bangladesh.<\/p>\n Similarly, the ruling class of Bangladesh has been carrying out brutal repression against the UPDF and others fighting for their rights for the past 27 years. Still, they have failed to suppress the UPDF, and they will continue to fail. In fact, the more they repress UPDF, the stronger it becomes. People are rallying in support of UPDF.<\/p>\n Finally, the most important truth is this: what reactionary rulers fear the most is people\u2019s unity. That is why they try every possible trick to prevent it \u2013 one of which is this tagging strategy. But such strategies don\u2019t always work. Today, the army and reactionary forces\u2019 \u201cUPDF tagging\u201d has failed. The people have awakened, and have defeated this tactic. Victory will come from the united movement of the people.<\/p>\n Sohel Chakma is an Assistant General Secretary of the Hill Students\u2019 Council.<\/p>\n (27 September 2025)<\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sohel Chakma Whenever someone speaks logically about the movement, struggle, or politics in the hills, the army, JSS (Santu), and other reactionary forces quickly tag them as being with the ‘UPDF. Even if someone merely protests injustice, they are not spared from being branded with this tag. It is generously and liberally handed out. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary"],"yoast_head":"\n
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