The Shanti Bahini (Bengali: শান্তি বাহিনী; meaning "Peace Force") was the armed wing of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts) in Bangladesh.
[4] Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, Manabendra Narayan Larma founded the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) on 15 February 1972, seeking to build an organization representing all the tribal peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
[5] When Larma's continued efforts to make the government recognize the rights of the tribal peoples through political discussions had failed,[6] Larma and the PCJSS began organizing the Shanti Bahini (Peace Corps), an armed force operating in the Hill Tracts area.
Many Bengali were forced to move to secure regions because of the insurgency, abandoning their land to the tribal communities.
[21] On 2 December 1997, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord was signed between the government and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti and the Shanti Bahini promised to abandon militancy.
[28] After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the removal of Bangladesh Awami League from in 1975,[29] India provided support and shelter to the members of Shanti Bahini.