On August 15, 1947, the Indian tricolour went up in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT); but fate, rather the British, had something else in store. Sir Cyril Radcliffe, head of the Boundary Commission, awarded the CHT to Pakistan. On August 18, the Pakistani army marched in, pulled down the Tricolour, and hoisted in its place the star and crescent Pakistani flag. The region has experienced trouble since then. In 1972, operations by the Bangladeshi army in the region led to a mass departure of Chakma refugees into the neighbouring Indian state –Tripura. Today, these Chakma refugees live in feeble settlements, while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees does not consider them as refugees. All they receive from the Indian government has been the measly daily quota of 400 grams of rice and some money for survival. Recently in 2004, and after decades of demands and protests, the descendants of the Chakma refugees (who were born in Arunachal Pradesh between 1964 and 1987) were included in the voters’ list. Still, these stateless people live in utter misery. Bangladesh refuses to accept their existence while their citizenship claims have been denied by India as well. Concerted diplomatic efforts are then urgently required for them.