Today the fourth death anniversary of Mithun chakma

File photo: Mithun chakma EDITORIAL The fourth death anniversary of Mithun chakma.   Today’s an indigenous rights defender, political ac...

File photo: Mithun chakma

EDITORIAL

The fourth death anniversary of Mithun chakma.

 

Today’s an indigenous rights defender, political activist, blogger, and organic intellectual Mithun Chakma`s fourth death anniversary.

 

On this day, four years ago, January 3, 2018, a state-backed armed terrorist group shot dead Mithun Chakma in Khagrachari Sadar, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh.

 

He was one of the political intellectuals belonging to exploited, deprived, and oppressed nationalities in Bangladesh. He was born on 17 March 1977 in a politically conscious family in Gamaridhala village of Khagrachhari Sadar. His father's name was Swapan Kishore Chakma, and his mother's name was Karmotpala Khisa. He lost his parents at a very young age. His father was also a  fighter of the deprived peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

 

He successfully passed the Higher Secondary Examination in 1997 from Notre Dame College, Dhaka. In 1996 he was admitted to the Department of Linguistics at Dhaka University. After completing his post-graduate studies in 2002, he could teach the profession at the university. But Mithun Chakma joined the fight to establish the rights of the oppressed nation and peoples of the country.

 

He was elected central president of the Greater Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Student`s Council in 2003. Having successfully completed his presidency of the PCP with efficiency and success, he played an essential role in the Democratic Youth Forum. Then he joined the UPDF (a political party that seeks the emancipation of oppressed hill peoples through full autonomy).

 

During the time of emergency in the country in 2007-08 and eviction of the land in the Chittagong Hill Tracts patronized by the army were intensified, he played an important role in the historical land protection movement of Sajek, including Mahalchhari, Khagrachhari Sadar, Langdu-Merung.

Mithun chakma

 

In addition to his political struggles, he regularly wrote blogs and social media against oppression, state repression, land evictions, and military rule. He had equal compassion for the hilly people and for the nations living in the country's plains, and for all the oppressed nations and peoples in the world.

 

He was also an eloquent speaker. He could inspire everyone with his inspiring and inflammatory speeches. He lived a simple life even in the glamorous capitalist society. That is why he became the role model of the protesting students-youth society.

 

Mithun Chakma, a vocal opponent of unjust state aggression and ethnic oppression in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, became an eyesore for the state forces. More than a dozen false cases were filed against him. He was detained twice by state forces in 2004 and 2016. In 2004, the army detained him at a self-help rally in Khagrachari. During this time, he was subjected to inhuman physical and mental torture. He was first arrested in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in 2016 in an ICT case and kept in jail for three months. Mithun Chakma did not give up his dreams even after being tortured in prison. He was steadfast in the struggle of the movement.

photo: Mittra Dewan

Mithun Chakma will always be remembered among us as a beloved figure and patriotic fighter for his courageous role in the struggle for all the oppressed nations and peoples in the world.