Hill
Women's Federation
Hill Women's Federation (HWF) is a representative organisation
of the Jumma women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It was founded
on 8 March 1988 by some avan garde female Jumma students of
Chittagong University.
At
the beginning its activities were confined within the university
campus. However, after the fall of the military dictator General
Hussain Muhammad Ershad, HWF was able to spread its activities
into the CHT. In 1995 it held its first successful central
conference in Khagrachari. More than one thousand Jumma women
took part in it.
HWF's
activities focus on raising consciousness among the Jumma
women about their rights and duties as the most repressed
section of the Jumma society in the CHT. HWF is highly vocal
against military repression on the Jumma women and organises
protest demonstrations against every incident of human rights
violations against Jumma women. In 1996 HWF came into national
and international limelight when its organising secretary
Kalpana Chakma was abducted by one Lt. Ferdous from her house
at New Lallya Ghona village under Baghaichari Thana in Rangamati
distrcit. The HWF along with other Jumma organisations launched
a massive campaign against this heinous act of the military
and eventually forced the government to form an inquiry committee.
The committee was reported to have submitted its report in
March 1997, but the government is yet to make it public. So
far the government has failed to bring the culprits responsible
for her abduction to justice.
Like
PCP, HWF also denounces the CHT accord signed between the
Government of Bangladesh and the Jana Samhati Samiti and vows
to carry on the struggle for the right to self determination. |
