The untold tale of the Hill Tracts

The dancers of the Hill Tracts

Teardrops of Karnafuli is a documentary film. Usually after a feature film, Tanvir goes in for a documentary. "When you make a documentary you are very much connected with the reality," Tanvir says. "I've made five documentaries before such as Ochin Pakhi about Lalon Fakir, Tale of a Lane on Shakhari Bazar, Oi Jamuna and Sriti Ekattur which is about the murder of intellectuals by the collaborators during the Liberation War."

Talking about his latest film Teardrops of Karnafuli, which premiered recently at the Goethe Institut, Tanvir says, "When I visited Chittagong with my parents in my childhood I found it one of the most beautiful places in Bangladesh. As I grew up I learnt about the political turmoil and sufferings of the people. I remained disturbed about the happenings and felt that I should do something and bring the situation to the notice of the people in Bangladesh. However, it was not easy to go there to shoot a film documentary, specially before the peace agreement was signed."

Tanvir wanted to make a film about the real problems of the people. He spoke to many Hill Tracts people, the leaders, representatives and the common dwellers. He kept all the 12 ethnic groups in mind i.e. Chakma, Marma, Chak, Tanjangya, Tripura, Bom, Pankhu, Mrung, Lushia, Kheyang, Mru and Khuma. Together they are known as Jhumma. Tanvir also spoke to the Bangalee settlers who had been living in the Hill Tracts. In that manner he tried to show both sides of the problem. He did not want to blame anyone but sought to find a solution instead. "Any kind of dislike or hatred comes from not knowing enough about the other side. This is my attempt to show the problem from the perspective of the hill people," says Tanvir.

He points out that there are two main issues. When the Kaptai Lake was made the Hill Tracts people were never consulted even though it was their land. Their homes were flooded and about a lakh of people had to leave. There was no proper compensation. Secondly, Tanvir points out, half a million plain land people were brought here to the CHT to settle and this tipped the demographic balance.

Tanvir says furthermore that he did research on all available materials. He read books and documents and talked to different people. The narrative style comes in when an old Hill Tracts lady tells the story of her life. She recalls old incidents and characters. She also talks about life before the lake was created, the entry of Bangalee settlers and the current scenario. She talks about the everyday problems of a hill person. To understand the situation in depth, Tanvir also spoke to some social leaders.