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Purna Lal Chakma

Sep 5, 2026, 10:10 AM

Did Pakistan Defeat India in the Chittagong Hill Tracts?

An AI-generated editorial illustration of PCJSS President Jyotirindra Bodhipriya “Santu” Larma and former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina around the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord. The open agreement, surrendered rifle, white dove and Indigenous representatives symbolize PCJSS’s choice of peace and hope for a better Bangladesh. Created by the author using AI; not a historical photograph.

In December 1997, India appeared to secure an important political success without firing a shot. The Bangladesh government and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, or PCJSS, signed the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord, ending more than two decades of...

Purna Lal Chakma

Aug 31, 2026, 5:43 PM

Could One Makkah Pact Clause Put All of India at Risk?

Illustration created by the author using AI: A conceptual map showing how a hypothetical Makkah Pact clause could affect India’s security map if Bangladesh joins the pact. The image is illustrative and not a claim about the confirmed terms of the agreement.

Bangladesh does not need India’s permission to join. But one unknown wartime-access rule could force New Delhi to rethink its entire eastern security map. Bangladesh’s possible entry into the Makkah Pact has become one of the most hotly debated security...

Purna Lal Chakma

Aug 29, 2026, 12:00 PM

Could Bangladesh Become South Asia’s Next Ukraine?

Bangladesh is depicted inside a transparent shield associated with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, raising the central question: would the Makkah Pact provide real protection or only a political promise? (AI-assisted illustration created by the author for editorial purposes.)

The possibility of Bangladesh becoming South Asia’s next Ukraine may sound extreme, but two major security developments have made the question harder to dismiss. Dhaka is considering the Makkah Pact while preparing to buy Chinese J-10CE fighter jets. India...

Purna Lal Chakma

Aug 26, 2026, 12:17 PM

Why Bangladesh’s BNP May Have to Join the Makkah Pact to Survive

The BNP government faces a difficult choice over the Makkah Defence Pact, balancing domestic political pressure, India’s security concerns, Israel’s interest, and the long-standing militarization of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Created by the author for editorial purposes.

Bangladesh has been invited to join the Makkah Defence Pact formed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. Dhaka has not accepted yet, but the BNP government says it is considering the invitation positively. For Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, this may...

Purna Lal Chakma

Aug 23, 2026, 11:03 AM

Could Bangladesh Joining the Makkah Pact Deepen Its Crisis With India?

A strategic map showing Bangladesh’s position beside India and its possible defence links with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey under the Makkah Pact. Created by the author for editorial purposes.

The Bangladesh Makkah Pact debate is becoming much more than a story about a new defence agreement. Bangladesh has not joined the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey, but senior officials in Dhaka have publicly...

Purna Lal Chakma

Aug 18, 2026, 11:25 AM

Inside the World’s Largest Undeclared Military Zone: 79 Years Without Freedom

A Chakma woman carries the beauty and burden of the Chittagong Hill Tracts—an Indigenous homeland transformed by decades of militarization, displacement and unfulfilled peace. (AI-generated illustration created by the author for editorial use.)

There was a time when the hills belonged to their people. Indigenous families cultivated jhum without wondering whether their fields would still be theirs after the next harvest. Men, women and children caught fish together in the streams, gathered...

Purna Lal Chakma

Aug 11, 2026, 11:00 AM

Yunus’s Absence From Presidential Race May Signal Better India-Bangladesh Ties

Muhammad Yunus, whose absence from Bangladesh’s presidential contest may signal a shift toward calmer relations between Dhaka and New Delhi. (AI-generated image created by the author for editorial purposes)

Something unusual has happened in Bangladesh’s presidential race. Muhammad Yunus, who stood at the center of the country’s political transition after Sheikh Hasina’s fall, is no longer at the center of the contest for the presidency. The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist...

Aug 3, 2026, 6:24 PM

The Silence on Hindu Rights in South Asia

Incident of demolition of a 500-year-old Hindu temple in Noakhali, Bangladesh has come to light. The action was allegedly taken on the "orders" of Bangladesh Prime Minister Tariq Rahman. If this incident had happened at a mosque in India,...

Purna Lal Chakma

Jun 28, 2026, 8:54 AM

In Bangladesh, Islamists Can Lose the Election—and Still Capture the State

AI-generated symbolic illustration by Purna Lal Chakma, inspired by real media coverage and viral social media imagery, representing Bangladesh’s struggle over public space, religious majoritarian pressure, and the memory of the 1971 Liberation War, symbolized by the Eternal Flame.

Jamaat did not form the government, but the wider Islamist ecosystem may be reshaping the state from inside. Bangladesh’s February election did not end the struggle over the soul of the state. It only changed the form of that struggle. The...

Purna Lal Chakma

Jun 23, 2026, 1:49 PM

Why Israel Is Right to Watch Hamas-Linked Activity in Bangladesh

Illustrative AI-assisted editorial image inspired by widely circulated visuals from Bangladesh, exploring Islamist mobilisation, Palestinian symbolism, and the debate over national identity; AI-assisted editorial illustration by Purna Lal Chakma.

When Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar reportedly alleged that Hamas-linked activity is taking place in Pakistan and Bangladesh, many people in South Asia may have treated it as another diplomatic warning from the Middle East. But Bangladesh should...

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