Humans are ungrateful for what they got in past and forget how their entity is alive. We may forget our past but can't deny the fact that those were hard days to live on and many things helped us out. Similar situation is present in Chittagong hill tracts. Once this abandoned hilly,wild place was ignored by many. No one even tried to start a civilization in those deep scary forest but certain tribal and indigenous groups started their own way of living life there. Things that helped them out are essential, important and worthy of remembering. One of these was Jhum Cultivation. Although it wasn’t invented or introduced for the first time in Chittagong hill tracts but it was widely used in Chittagong hill tracts in order to live a decent life. This hilly area had only a few plain areas to plant crops in classic and most used techniques. It needed something much better technique to grow foods in this slope and curves of the peaks and hills. So this indigenous people came out with a brilliant idea to sow seeds with not so famous but a useful technique for this high hills which is known as burn technology to world but Jhum cultivation to us.
According to wikipedia Jhum cultivation is an agricultural system in which plot of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is overrun by weeds.it’s a technique of pre ploughed Era's but widely used in Chittagong hill tracts due to its lacking of plain lands. Inherited from the ancestors, this indigenous people used this technique and made a fortune in this wild,rough, hilly area. It was impossible for them to conquer this rough, hard soil of hills as they weren’t even developed with good tools and modern agricultural machinery. Speaking of development, it isn't enough appropriate word to describe the condition of indigenous people even till this days. Rather we should say their life is developing but in a slow pace. So it is pretty much mentioned how important jhum cultivation is for this people living in remote area.
As the world progresses many of us are having very modern lives. Although life of this indigenous people isn't good enough, till this days they are using same old method to earn their livelihood. It’s tough if you aren't helped by the people who are meant to be assigned to help you. so this people are helpless hence they couldn’t get out from their own way of life. They are using the same method though some so called experts expressed their concern about jhum cultivation as per their research jhum cultivation is a threat to wildlife and a cause of soil erosion. Many have also protested against jhum cultivation although they don't even care for the people's need, people's right. If the infrastructural development did happen, today indigenous people wouldn’t even bother to do this jhum cultivation. But alas! People are blind with the pride of fault nature's love. I am saying that because articles,statistics go against this protestors as statistically jhum cultivation isn't even the mentionable reason of destruction of wildlife and soil erosion. After hills collapsed in Rangamati and Bandarban in recent years, many experts dug the reason for this soil erosion and it was overpopulations and people who cut hills to build houses.
As a matter of fact, people's misconduct to indigenous people on the subject of jhum cultivation isn't even valid. It is often heard,seen that many people misconduct with indigenous people in matter of jhum cultivation. They laugh at it saying it’s not even a good technique and it doesn’t grow good amount of crops. But they forgot they abandoned this forest, hilly places as they preferred less hard work. And this hard working indigenous people worked hard to start a civilization and Jhum cultivation is the biggest element for making this hill tracts habitable.
That’s why jhum cultivation is a vanquished power as people urged their mere nature's love over the rightful development of this people and it is forgotten though it made Chittagong hill tracts habitable zone.
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