Bangladesh:

Non-violence Training for Buddhist Women

The November 4-6, 1997 Non-violence training held in Khagrachari in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh, can be termed an unique one in the annals of non-violence training. It was a training exclusively for women, and participated almost entirely by tribal women. All but one of the 30 participants were Buddhists. The training took place in a Buddhist temple complex in a rural setting. The training was cast against the backdrop of the imminent ending of the state of belligerent violence in the CHT. The purpose of the training was to select and prepare non-violence trainers for the future; on the last day of the training there were strong requests to have a deeper level training for some of the participants, and also proposals to hold similar base trainings for other tribal groups in other tribal centres of the CHT.

26 participants were Chakma tribal women, 3 were from the Marma tribe, and there was one Muslim woman from Chittagong. More than one session was devoted to tribal culture and the tribal response to violence, keeping the situation of the CHT in focus. The training focused on causes of violence, especially violence to women; history and relevance of non-violence and the role of Buddhism; techniques for trainers; and methods of social analysis. The training was coordinated by BICPAJ and Buddhist Peace Fellowship of Bangladesh BPFB and conducted by Br. Jarlath D'Souza CSC in collaboration with Sangeeta Barua, Ratna Prova Chakma, Paul Charwa Tigga, and Ven. Sumanalankar Mahathero. In the role play, events were taken from the non-violent actions of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Ven. Somdech Maha Ghosananda of Cambodia et.al. At the ending, gratitude was expressed for the support of Shelley Andersen of the Women Peacemakers' programme of IFOR, Netherlands, and to Chittagong Regional Office of Caritas Bangladesh.

Br. Jarlath D'Souza, BICPAJ/BPFB