Who is going save Chakma from Chakma? Who is going to save Bangladesh from Chakma terror?
4 United People’s Democratic Front leaders killed in Rangamati
Gunmen killed four activists of the United People’s Democratic Front, including its central committee member Animesh Chakma, at Mitingachari of Barkal in Rangamati Saturday morning.
The United People’s Democratic Front blamed its rival Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti for the attack which killed the four UPDF leaders. The Jana Sanghati Samiti brushed aside the accusation outright.
The UPDF has called a daylong blockade of road and waterway in Rangamati for Monday in protest against the killing and demanding arrest and trial of the perpetrators and removal of the PCJSS chief, Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma, much known as Santu Larma, from the position of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council chairman.
Local people said that the gunmen attacked Arun Chakma’s house at Mitingachari, 40 kilometres off the district headquarters, where some UPDF activists were holding a meeting about 9:00am. The attackers left the house in 15–20 minutes.
UPDF spokesman Sonamani Chakma said that five local leaders and Animesh were discussing preparations for a national convention on ethnic minority issues, scheduled to begin in June in Dhaka, in Arun’s house and the armed goons belonging to the PCJSS group led by Santu Larma had attacked them.
‘Animesh, 45, and Shukrasen Chakma, 35, died on the spot as the goons fired at them indiscriminately.
The other two, Purnabhushan Chakma, 45, and Pulak Chakma, 32, dived into Kaptai Lake to escape but they could not survive as the gunmen fired at them into the lake,’ he said.
‘While they were leaving Arun’s house, flanked by Kaptai Lake on three sides, the goons also set the house on fire in which the body of Animesh was burnt,’ he added.
They Rangamati unit UPDF coordinator, Alakesh Chakma, said that another of their activists, Jai Tanchangya, could escape the attack and survive. But Arun could not be traced.
Animesh had been involved with hill people’s political struggle since his school days, UPDF leaders said.
On receiving his master’s degree in sociology from Rajshahi University, he played a great role in the formation of the United People’s Democratic Front and became one on the party’s 11-member central committee.
The committee is now composed of nine members as another member, Ruikhui Marma, was killed in 2009 in a similar gun attack.
The police superintendent of Rangamati, Maswood-ul Alam, said that they had recovered two bodies from the spot. ‘We heard of the gun attack and sent forces to the place and they recovered the bodies.’
The second officer of the Barkal police, AKM Idris, said that they were searching for other bodies. He said that no case was filed till Saturday evening. Post-mortem examinations on the bodies would be done at the Rangamati General Hospital morgue.
Assistant information and publicity secretary of the PCJSS central committee Sajib Chakma said, ‘None of our members are involved in murder or violence. All this is the UPDF’s propaganda. We believe in peaceful, democratic process.’
The UPDF’s central committee member Sachib Chakma in a statement condemned the killing of four of its activists and demanded punishment of the ‘armed goons set on by Santu Larma.’
‘Santu Larma is the centre of instability in the hill districts. His goons are killing and abducting people one after another but no action has yet been taken,’ he said.
‘Santu gathered a huge number of arms and a huge amount of ammunition during the immediate-past emergency regime and the two years and a half of this government. His goons are now killing people with the weapons under the direct patronisation of the military,’ he said.
Different UPDF units, meanwhile, went on demonstrations in Dhaka, Khagrachari town, Kudukchari in Rangamati, Naniyarchar and Jurachhari condemning the killings.
After the signing of the 1997 CHT treaty, a dissident group of students, women activists and PCJSS leaders formed the UPDF opposing the deal calling it a ‘document of surrender’ and demanded total autonomy of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Since then, rivalry has continued between the UPDF and the PCJSS, led by Santu Larma, which had signed the 1997 CHT treaty that ended armed struggle that had continued in the hills for decades
Santu Larma has for long been demanding that the UPDF should be banned as it is a ‘terrorists’ outfit.’
4 United People
... ye log bhi beimaan he hai.may allah bless them with wisdom that they can understand their guilty.
