The 42nd death anniversary of Parbatya Chittagong Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS) founder Manabendra Narayan Larma (MN Larma) was observed in Rangamati on Monday with various programmes.
Wearing of black badges, mourning rally, wreath-laying at the altar of MN Larma, a commemoration meeting, lamp lighting and lantern flying were among the day-long programmes.
MN Larma was a member of the Constituent Assembly and the first National Parliament of Bangladesh. On November 10, 1983, he was killed along with eight comrades in a secret hideout in the deep jungles of Panchhari, Khagrachhari district, by the separatist faction of Jana Samhati Samiti. Until his death, he struggled for the right of Jumma ethnicity to self-determination.
The President of the Parbatya Chittagong Jana Sanghati Samiti Rangamati District Branch, Dr. Gangamanik Chakma, presided over the meeting and Shishir Chakma, a prominent poet, literary and cultural figure of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, was the chief guest.
In addition, Jyotiprabha Larma, elder sister of Manabendra Narayan Larma and member of the regional council, Prakriti Ranjan Chakma, President of the Parbatya Chittagong Region of the Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, Sadhuram Tripura, member of the Parbatya Chittagong Jana Sanghati Samiti Central Committee, Ad Bhabatosh Dewan, Vice President of the CHT Headman Network, Ashika Chakma, General Secretary of the Parbatya Chittagong Mahila Samity, Suman Chakma, President of the PCP Rangamati District Branch, and representatives of students, youth and civil society were present.
At the discussion meeting, the chief guest, Shishir Chakma, said, MN Larma has shown the way for us to live with our heads held high in the world with our identity. Today we remember him. We know that the politics of division is exhausting us. All people are immersed in despair. However, history has its responsibility, history also has its verdict. The young generation will one day decide the verdict against those who sowed the seeds of division, against the ruling class, based on that historical responsibility. The sigh of the people, the punishment for disrupting the future of fourteen nations speaking different languages, will definitely determine the time for those separatists.
He also said, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Agreement has been reached - what a beautiful governance system could have been created by combining the Regional Council and the Hill District Councils. But the previous governments did not allow that to happen. They broke their promises. I do not believe that the elections are coming up, whoever comes to power, they will think about the Chittagong Hill Tracts, they will implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts Agreement and continue the policy of repression in the hills.
