Strength 2,000–47,000 | Part of PCJSS | |
 | ||
Active 1972 (1972)–1997 (1997) Ideology Autonomy for the indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Leaders M.N. Larma
Shantu Larma Area of operations Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh | ||
The Shanti Bahini (Bengali: শান্তি বাহিনী; meaning "Peace Force") was the name of the armed wing of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts) in Bangladesh.
It was formed in 1972 to preserve the rights of the tribal people in south-eastern Bangladesh, and fought for many years against the government. It abandoned militancy following the signing of a peace treaty between the government of Bangladesh and the PCJSS on December 2, 1997. However, some members opposed to the peace deal formed a dissident group.
History
Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Manabendra Narayan Larma founded the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) on February 15, 1972, seeking to build an organization representing all the tribal peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Larma was elected to the Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad, the national legislature of Bangladesh as a candidate of the PCJSS in 1973. When Larma's continued efforts to make the government recognize the rights of the tribal peoples failed, Larma and the PCJSS began organizing the Shanti Bahini (Peace Corps), an armed force operating in the Hill Tracts area. Later on, this force began attacking government security forces in 1977. They carried out kidnapping of civilians and extortion. Larma and his rebel force kept on fighting Bengali intrusion into tribal areas. Being the main leader of the PCJSS and the Shanti Bahini, Larma consequently went into hiding from government security forces. However, factionalism within the PCJS weakened Larma's standing and he was assassinated on November 10, 1983.