Kolkata Chakma Students' Association celebrated Freshers' Meet

via Mizo News on October 2, 2014

Kolkata: The Kolkata Chakma Students’ Association (KCSA) on September 28 celebrated their freshers’ meet program at a gala event with attendance of a large number of dignitaries, guests, student representatives, members and well-wishers.

Dr. Buddha Dhan Chakma, Minister of state, Goverment of Mizoram, who was scheduled to attend the meet was unable to attend the program. In his message for the students he shared his 3-D formula for success founded on devotion to God, dedication to studies and determination to succeed, with the students.

Mr. Subir Bhaumik, veteran journalist and considered an authority on North-East India attended the meet as the Chief Guest. He spoke about the need to present a united front by all the tribes and communities of North East India to make their voices heard. He dwelt at length on his experiences in the region and his vision for the region and how mutual trust and coexistence is the only way forward for India, which is especially true in the context of North East India with its diverse communities.

Describing the Chakmas as the worst victims of partition, he stressed that the true mark of a mature community or a nation was the way it treated its minorities, and in doing so he pointed out how the condition of minorities and tribals in India, though far from perfect, is in fact in many ways better than the condition of their counterparts in many parts of the world.

Ven. (Dr.) Prajnalankar Bhikkhu, a renowned Chakma Buddhist monk was the Guest of Honour. He touched upon the historical injustice that was meted out to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and had the people of CHT been allowed to chose their political destiny, today it would have been the counted as the 9th sister among the seven sisters of North East India and Sikkim. He also talked about the political and religious persecutions that compel the people of the region to leave their homeland to become refugees.

Dr. Mrinal Kanti Chakma, Fellow MAKAIS and an expert on the social dynamics of North East India also attended the meeting. He urged the Chakma students to forge strong bonds not only among themselves but also with students from other communities to truly benefit from the immense potential of unity in diversity. He stressed upon the need to build mutual understanding and mutual trust among the communities to facilitate all round development of the communities and the region.

Many student delegates from other Students Associations from the North East also were in attendance. Mr. D. Zeliang, the General Secretary of North East Students Forum expressed his eagerness to work together with the KCSA.

The cultural evening saw a montage of extremely popular and entertaining cultural performances from the students, including traditional songs and dances reminiscing about the traditional Chakma way of life.

Chakmas perform the community’s traditional dance in Kolkata.

The program began at 3:00 pm and continued till 8:00 pm at Rabindra Tirtha, Narikal Bagan, New Town Kolkata. Celebrating its maiden freshers’ meet, the KCSA on this special occasion has informed, entertained and motivated the students from different parts of the country studying in Kolkata and different parts of West Bengal. The official website of KCSA http://www.kcsa.org.in was also inaugurated by the Chief Guest.

KCSA was founded in 2006 with members from different parts of the country and the world like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, West Bengal and Bangladesh. The main objective of the association is to protect and preserve the rich Chakma traditional cultures & history, to work for the welfare of the students’ community and common people irrespective of their caste, sex, region and religion.

KCSA is an effective platform for addressing some of the common challenges faced by the students studying in Kolkata who often find it difficult to adjust in terms of their choices of subjects, careers as well as financial crises and many other challenges usually faced by people from the northeastern states.

KCSA seeks to empower every student, and has conducted numerous youth camps, seminars, blood donation camps, career counseling, debates on global issues and leadership training programs.