www.chtbd.org

it's all about chtbd (chittagong hill tracks). chakma: the chakma are the largest ethnic group in bangladesh. according to the census of 1991, the total number of chakma in the cht was 239,417. in addition, an estimated 150,000 chakma live scattered about in the states of tripura, mizoram, assam and arunachal pradesh in india. a small number of chakma also live in cox’s bazar district and in myanmar (burma). the chakma language belongs to the indo-european family of languages and has close links with pali, assamese and bengali. the chakma have their own script in which their ancient religious literature is preserved in palm leaves. the script has similarities with mon khmer and burmese. although many elderly chakma still sign their names in the chakma script, most chakma youths no longer use the script. at school chakma children study in bengali and in english. the chakma have perhaps proved to be the most adaptive and innovative of all the indigenous peoples of the cht. by nature, mos