Kalpana Chakma - Lost but not forgotten and searching will never end

Kalpana's Warriors, an exhibition of photographs by the acclaimed Bangladeshi lensman Shahidul Alam showing at Gallery Art and Aesthetic, is a caution against such forgetting. 

Abducted Kalpana Chakma

Shahidul Alam, the man who captures thoughts. And when celebrated the Bangladeshi 

photographer says, “I am media savvy, technologically savvy and articulate…I am a powerhouse,”   you not only feel the energy behind the photos that highlight the plight of people who lost their lives in crossfire, extra judicial killings or to the wrath of nature but also how an artist can stretch the boundaries of a medium to make his point.

Kalpana Chakma, an indigenous and women rights activist was abducted from her home in 

Rangamati on 12 June, 1996. Kalindi Kumar Chakma, Kalpana’s brother, filed a First 

Information Report (FIR) where he reported that Kalpana was abducted by Lieutenant 

Ferdous (from Kojoichori Army camp in Rangamati), along with two Village Defence Police 

(VDP) members – Nurul Haque and Salah Ahmed. The military has categorically denied 

their involvement. A police officer carried out an investigation where he failed to name any 

suspects, due to what it said was ‘insufficient evidence’.

Later, an inquiry commission was set up by the Government. The commission submitted its 

report but found no involvement of the military or the VDP in the abduction. It failed to 

identify any suspects. 

The commission interviewed 94 people and submitted a 40-page report to the Ministry Of 

Home Affairs in 1997 and concluded, ‘Kalpana Chakma has willingly or unwilling been 

abducted but it was not possible for us to identify the abductor for lack of witnesses and 

evidence and there remains no grounds to recommend that legal action should be taken 

against anyone’. 

In 2010, a Rangamati court ordered the reinvestigation of Kalpana Chakma’s case following 

her brother Kalindi Kumar Chakma’s rejection of the CID report. The CID report also failed 

to identify anyone involved in the abduction. The case is now being investigated by the 

police superintendent of Rangamti who has expressed her unwillingness to investigate the 

case. 

There have been many news reports in the last 17 years in the media about Kalpana 

Chakma’s abduction. The International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission wrote about the 

abduction of Kalpana Chakma in their report ‘Life is not Ours’. Amnesty International 

Urgent Action issued a statement about Kalpana Chakma in 1996. Human Rights Watch in 

its 2009 report ‘Ignoring Executions and Torture: Impunity for Bangladesh's Security 

Forces’ mentions Kalpana Chakma’s case under “Key Cases of Impunity the New 

Government Should Address”.

The abductors of Kalpana Chakma are still free. The state has failed to give justice for 

Kalpana Chakma. 

For how long will we continue to let put up with this impunity that the state provides to 

perpetrators of such violence?

"Material and process come together with political and aesthetic purpose in a photo exhibition by Bangladeshi lensman Shahidul Alam," notes Gargi Gupta

Kalpana has probably not lived to tell her tale. At any rate, no one knows what happened to her since June 12, 1996, the day this young political activist from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeast reaches of Bangladesh bordering Myanmar was picked up from her home by Bangladeshi military and police personnel. Eighteen years on, she remains missing.

Kalpana Chakma's is not an unfamiliar tale — the modern histories of many countries are full of instances of human rights abuse by the military. Abductions or forced disappearances, torture and rape, summary killings, wanton destruction of property are regular occurrences where armed forces have been given a free reign to put down insurgencies or separatists — think Kashmir, Naxal-affected or several parts of northeast India. In the case of Kalpana, she was leader of the Hill Women's Federation, an organisation of the indigenous communities (the Chakmas being the largest of them) of Chittagong who've been fighting for political autonomy from Bangladesh.

The Chakmas' struggle is a long-standing one that reached a head post the 1970s, after the construction of a dam and reservoir on the Karnafuli river submerged 254 square miles, including the palace of the Chakma king.

Most such abuses go unreported, but even those that do come out to the outside world, are forgotten soon after they have created a splash of anger and condemnation.

Kalpana's Warriors, an exhibition of photographs by the acclaimed Bangladeshi lensman Shahidul Alam showing at Gallery Art and Aesthetic, is a caution against such forgetting. The way the show has been mounted, you could even call it a shrine - a shrine to the memory of a brave woman whose mysterious, tragic fate has been all but forgotten to the majority of her countrymen. As with a temple, the gallery is a mostly dark space, lit by candles placed in terracotta plates hanging in front of large blow-ups of the faces of unknown, unnamed men and women printed on straw mats - the madurs that are so much a part of the daily lives of the Chakmas. These are Kalpana's "warriors", the activists who've carried forward her fight and are standing up for their rights and against state repression.

Kalpana's Warriors is part of a public awareness campaign initiated in 2010 by Alam, who is a human rights activist as much as he is Bangladesh's best known contemporary photographer, called "No More", which focuses on issues and events – the floods and cyclones that hit Bangladesh regularly or extra-judicial killings and garment factory deaths – that the government would like to sweep under the carpet.

Kalpana's disappearance, of course, has been a longer term engagement with Alam. Kalpana's Warriors is his third show on the subject, all of them inaugurated on June 12, the anniversary of her abduction.

The first of these, Searching for Kalpana Chakma - A Photo Forensic Study, in 2013 was a moving installation comprising images of various things associated with Kalpana – a segment of the bark of the tree where she was standing blindfolded before being separated from her brothers, a fragment of a newkameez she had stitched for her trip to attend the fourth women's conference in Beijing; her ribbon found in the bamboo slat next to her bed; a segment of her shoe; the palm of her brother Kalindi, who remembers how the torch light reflected from his hand lit up the abductors' faces. These are magnified images, the kind you see through a microscope in a forensic laboratory, beautifully coloured and printed – so that a sham reprisal of the methods used by modern police forces to uncover long-standing mysteries – except that the investigation never happened in Kalpana's case.

What's noticeable in Searching for Kalpana Chakma as well as with the current Kalpana's Warriors show is how material and process come together with political and aesthetic purpose. And it's not just the use of the straw mat as photographic medium. The physical process itself incorporated the politics. "The fire that had been used to raze pahari homes, also needed to be represented, so a laser beam was used to burn the straw, etching with flames, the images of rebellion," explains Alam.

It's an extraordinary tribute to an extraordinary woman.

                                                                                                           

Related search:

1. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/campaigns/kalpana-chakma-%E2%80%93-lost-not-forgotten-bangladesh

2. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/on-kalpanas-trail/article8189817.ece

3. http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-this-photo-exhibition-is-an-extraordinary-tribute-to-missing-bangladeshi-activist-kalpana-chakma-2177466

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Chakma ADC’s CEM resigns over 4th August’s violence in Mizoram

An official at Raj Bhavan said the resignation letter had not yet reached Governor Lt Gen (retd) Nirbhay Sharma's office by 5 pm.

The bandh last month was called to protest against the alleged wrongful recruitment of government employees by the Chakma Autonomous District authorities.

Kamalanagar, Sept 21, 2015: The Chief Executive Member (CEM) of Mizoram’s Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC) Dangu Buddhalila Chakma resigned on Monday after a meeting of local Congress leaders discussed the August 4 violence at Chawngte/Kamlanagar that led to the death of Agosh Chakma, a student and the ransacking of a dozen elected leaders’ houses and more than 20 vehicles. Buddhalila Chakma submitted his resignation to Congress leader and former CEM Kali Kumar Tonchongya around 10.30 am, sources said, adding Chakma’s letter has been dispatched to Aizawl, more than 330 kms away.

An official at Raj Bhavan said the resignation letter had not yet reached Governor Lt Gen (retd) Nirbhay Sharma’s office by 5 pm. 

Buddhalila Chakma could not be contacted despite several attempts.

 Chakma’s resignation comes almost seven weeks after violence broke out at the autonomous district’s headquarters over the alleged wrongful recruitment of more than 100 “relatives” of politicians as government officers and staff by the district authorities.

Students had called a bandh in the town over the appointments, but leaders had been detained by police before the bandh was in place. Several hundred protesters surrounded the police station where the leaders were kept and pelted stones before police opened fire to disperse them. 

A 20-year-old student died in the firing, which led the mob to turn on the residences of the CADC’s elected members. At least a dozen homes were ransacked and more than 20 vehicles were destroyed. 

The National Human Rights Commission had earlier called for an explanation from the Mizoram government over the student’s death. 

In a text message, Chakma said, “I have resigned willingly from the post of CEM today. The reason is – I want to give chance to my colleagues to try their lucks and show & proof their talents.” 

He did not respond to a specific query if he was attacked over the violence.


via IndianEXPRESS

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Chakma student killed in Mizoram Police firing at Chakma region headquarters Kamalanagar town

Police sources said a mob of between 300 to 400 people gathered outside the police station after police detained nine student and youth leaders an hour ahead of the 6 am-to-6 pm bandh call.

The bandh was called to protest against the alleged wrongful recruitment of government employees by the Chakma Autonomous District authorities.

Kamalanagar, Aug 4, 2015: A 11th standard student was killed in police firing meant to disperse a mob that surrounded the Chawngte/Kamalanagar police station after youth and student leaders were detained ahead of a planned 12-hour bandh to protest against the alleged wrongful recruitment in government jobs.

The deceased has been identified as Agosh Chakma, 20, a native of Old Baseisora town in the Chakma Autonomous District.

Police sources said a mob of between 300 to 400 people gathered outside the police station after police detained nine student and youth leaders an hour ahead of the 6 am-to-6 pm bandh call. The mob has completely ransacked the residences of several Executive Members of the CADC and destroyed vehicles beloging to them, according to police sources and Chief Executive Member Buddhalila Chakma. The situation has now calmed down somewhat with a meeting of student and union leaders with the administration about to commence in an open field.

The Central Young Chakma Association and the Mizoram Chakma Students Union had called the bandh to protest against the alleged wrongful recruitment of government employees by the Chakma Autonomous District authorities.

Leaders of the two groups were among those detained. The mob surrounded the police station and pelted stones at the building. Police eventually resorted to firing.

At least 11 rounds were fired, of which one 9mm bullet hit Agosh Chakma between one eye and a ear, according to a policeman at the scene.

Police sources said there are just about 40 policemen stationed in the Chawngte/Kamalanagar area and they are hard-pressed to contain the mob violence.

via IndianEXPRESS

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Assam State Committee formed at CNCI Guwahati Meet

via E-PAO on May 28, 2015

Guwahati: In a two days meeting convened at Thirthanath Hall in Guwahati on the 24th and 25th May, 2015 the Chakma National Council of India (CNCI) has formed and constituted its Assam state Committee. The meeting was well attended by members of the community living in Guwahati, members of the Guwahati Chakma Students Union (GCSU), members from other parts of the state of Assam, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. The National Committee was represented by Anirudha Chakma (President), Jagat Shanta Chakma (Vice president) and two other executive members Rupayan Chakma and Kina Mohan Chakma. The Mizoram State committee was represented by its President Dangu Rasik Mohan Chakma. Representatives from the YCA and MCSU were also in attendance.

The primary agenda of the meeting was to form and constitute the Assam State Committee of the CNCI and to discuss and raise various issues of concern for the community.

In the meeting CNCI National President Dangu Anirudha Chakma briefly spoke and outlined the organizations main aims and objectives and Dangu Rasik Mohan Chakma, during the course of his speech, has elaborated them in more details while also bringing into light the problems and challenges faced by the community around the world and the need to chart a road map for the future of the community. Dangu Rasik Mohan also stressed on the ‘need to infuse and induce a sense of nationalism’ among Chakmas all across the world.

Expressing deep concerns over the anti-Chakma attitude and policies of the government of Mizoram, the Meeting sought to remind the state government of its responsibilities towards the minorities of the state.

Taking exception to the attitude of the government of Mizoram towards Chakmas of the state, the meeting strongly condemned the action of the state government to exclude the Chakma students from their rightful entitlements through the recently Amendment brought out in the Mizoram State Technical Entrance Examinations Rules dated 24th March, 2015 which, the meeting observed and declared, was not only unfair and unjust but such an act is also unbecoming of a democratically elected government. The CNCI pledged to continue to demand and strive for equal opportunities for the community and would do all that it can to protect and promote the interests of the community and the meeting urged the government of Mizoram to do away with all such discriminatory policies and rather create an environment that will be conducive for all the ethnic minority groups of the state.

While dwelling on the challenges and problems of the Chakmas in details, the meeting observed that the root cause of Chakmas present plight in India and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) was the injustice meted out to the community during the Partition of the country in 1947. The meeting sought to remind the members of the community and the outside world about the unjust Sir Cyrill Redcliff award of Bengal Boundary Commission which awarded the CHT to Pakistan with more than 97 percent non-Muslim against the very principle on which the Boundary Commission was formed, and consequently making the Chakmas the worst victim of partition.

The meeting also adopted a decision in which it decided to seek the attention and intervention of the Government of India towards the continued incidents of gross human rights violations and persecution faced by the Jummas (tribal communities) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh and seek to demand that the Government of India, as a responsible and key stakeholder of democratic ideals in the sub continent, must raise the CHT issue in all its bilateral engagements with the Government of Bangladesh.

On the concluding day, the Assam State Committee was formed and constituted. The 25 member strong constituted Committee is headed by Dangu Sambhu Dhan Chakma (Principle of Diphu Commerce College) as its President.

The Meeting expressed its appreciation of the commitment and dedication shown by the Chakma community of Assam in their efforts to protect and promote the interests of the community in the state. The meeting expressed its pride in the numerous contributions made by members of the Chakma community in the state of Assam since pre-Independence era in various capacities under both the State and the Central government services.

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MZP begins construction of concrete "Zofate Chawlbuk" at Borapansury

Present MZP 'Zofate Chawlbuk' at Borapansury

Past MZP Zofate Chawlbuk

Borapansury: The Construction of MZP ‘Zofate Chawlbuk’ at Borapansury, within CADC area has begun by the MZP cadres.

The construction of the concrete building will be up to first floor for as of now. 

The area of the building as measured is 45 feet in length and 30 feet in breadth. 

The construction of the building has been in full swing to complete the work as soon as possible, MZP said.

The construction of the Zofate Chawlbuk has started last February 6, 2015. The construction of the building up to first floor will be completed within this year. 

“The purpose of constructing the Zofate Chawlbuk is to safeguard the Mizo nation within Chakma inhibiting areas and in Mizoram as a whole,” MZP said.

As per MZP report, “the boycott of MDC by-election  last year held by the Chakmas against the construction of Zofate Chawlbuk at Borapansury was motivated by the Chakmas from Kamalanagar, not from Borapansury,” MZP further added.



Related News: 
1. MZP begins construction of controversial "Zofate Chawlbuk" at Borapansury
2. MZP, a militant Mizo student organization illegally Chakma's land, says JAC Chairman
3. MZP forcefully grabbing the Chakma's land and threatening them to bloodshed in Mizoram

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Mizoram's H & TE direct Chakma students to fill in Category-II forms for technical exams

Correspondence on May 19, 2015

Mizoram: The Chakma students who passed their class XII (science) are presently in disturbance, as they are not being allowed to fill up forms for state entrance under State Technical Entrance Exam (STEE) in Category-I for various technical courses like Medicals & Engineering etc. who have been in the category since its inception. In fact, the authority has directed the students to fill up forms in STEE-II category.

In an alleged discriminatory decision taken by Mizoram Govt with reference to the demand of some radical Mizo group (MZP) to place the Chakmas in category-II (2nd Class), the Mizoram Govt has made certain changes in "The Mizoram (Selection of Candidates for Higher Technical) Rules 1999" to put the Chakma Students of Mizoram as 2nd Class (Category-II) and Mizos(Zo ethnic) as 1st Class (Category-I). Here is the excerpts of the Mizoram Govt latest NOTIFICATION with reference to STEE and selection of candidates for Higher and Technical Education.

EARLIER RULE: 

"Children of local permanent residents of the state of Mizoram as category-I". "the term local parmanents' means those who are indigenous people of the state of Mizoram and have been residing parmanently in the state'. This rule does not discriminate between communities. 

NEW RULE: 

"Children of local permanent residents of the state of Mizoram as category-I". ''the term local permanents' means those who are indigenous (Zo-ethnic people who are native inhabitants) people of the state of Mizoram and have been residing permanently in the state'. 

The new Rule clearly put the Zo ethnic (Mizos only) over the Chakmas.

EARLIER RULE: 

'Children of non-local parmanent residents of the state of Mizoram as category-II'. This rule is meant for various govt employees who are being posted in Mizoram. 

NEW RULE: 

Children of other parmanent residents of the state of Mizoram as category-II'. The NEW RULE further defines "The term other permanent residents' means those who are non-indigenous (Non-Zo-ethnic people who are non-native inhabitants) people of the state of Mizoram and those who are serving under the Government of Mizoram or Government corporation of autonomous bodies under the state of Mizoram, or other recognised organisations and in whose case, it can safely be inferred that they would reside permanently in Mizoram". 

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CNCI - Mizoram State Committee demands white paper on "Chakma Census"

via TNT on May 16, 2015

CNCI - Mizoram State Committee

KAMALANAGAR: The decision of the CYMA to go ahead with their resolve to conduct census on the Chakmas as learnt from a report of the Vanglaini issue dated 11.5.2015 has upset the Chakmas.

“To single out the Chakmas as a community for subject to census without genuine ground and that also by a non-state entity is but a humiliation and assault to their dignity as human being. Chakmas are equal citizen of Mizoram and they deserve equal treatment in all respects from the State Government,” the Chakma National Council of India said in a statement released.

It is quite normal for a duty bound citizen to get alarmed by any events/incidents of abnormal nature. However, it does not legitimize someone or for that matter any non-state entity to take the law into their hand. What the rule book warrants is to approach the concerned legitimate authority and urge them to address the issue.

“The Government of Mizoram should come up with a clear stand on the resolve made by CYMA to go ahead with their illegitimate exercise to conduct census on the Chakmas who are also equal citizen of Mizoram and whether Mizoram Government is not duty bound to enforce the rule of Law?” they said.

Time and again the Chakma issue has reared up its ugly head and yet there has been a conspicuous lack of action and policy to resolve the issue for once and all on the parts of the Government. Ultimately, the sufferers are the minority Chakmas. As a result this has contributed to build up a trust deficit between the two communities and which is not healthy for the overall development of the State, observed CNCI.

“CNCI is clueless as to what has caused the urgency to suddenly jump on to such an exercise to conduct census on the Chakmas. What is the justification, the CYMA has decided to take up the census of the Chakmas? Whether, the CYMA have been alarmed by any evidence confirming about the abnormal growth of the Chakmas in Mizoram?” they said.

The perceived abnormal growth rate of the Chakmas may be put to rest by the given table showing the growth rate of the Chakmas sourced from Mizoram at a Glance 2001 published by Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Mizoram. There is nothing abnormal about their growth rate if juxtaposed with that of the rest population of Mizoram.

Comparison of the Chakmas population of Mizoram vis a vis rest of the population of Mizoram after India’s Independence

YEAR	TOTAL POPULATION OF MIZORAM	CHAKMA POPULATION	REST POPULATION(2-3=4)	DECADAL GROWTH (CHAKMA)	DECADAL GROWTH (REST POPULATION)
(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)
1951	1,96,202	15,297	1,80,905	-	-
1951-1961	2,66,063	19,337	2,46,726	26.41	36.38
1961-1971	3,32,390	22,393	3,09,997	15.80	25.64
1971-1981	4,93,757	39,905	4,53,852	78.20	46.41
1981-1991	6,89,756	54,194	6,35,562	35.80	40.04
1991-2001	8,88,573	71,283	8,17,290	31.53	28.59
Average				37.55	35.41
Source: Mizoram at a Glance 2001, Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Mizoram; http://dipr.mizoram.gov.in/uploads/documents/document3.pdf;http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_st_mizoram.pdf

This also bears significance to the memorandum submitted recently to Amit Shah, President, BJP by the MZPs wherein facts have been misrepresented deliberately regarding the growth of Chakma population in Mizoram with inflated figures about the Chakma population as has been learnt from a press report of the thenortheasttoday dated 17/4/2015. For instance it was claimed that Chakma population have jumped to 80,000 in 1991 against the fact that Chakmas were only 54,194 as shown in the above table. It was also conjured that the population of the Chakmas could be around 1,50,000. Whereas, the population of the Chakmas is only 71,283 by 2001 Census figure (http://censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_st_mizoram.pdf) and as per a report of the Vanglaini issue dated 2/3/2015 the population of the Chakmas as of 2011 is only 96,972 (http://www.vanglaini.org/tualchhung/32034).

Despite such strong evidence against the perceived notion of Chakmas growing abnormally, if the CYMA set on to continue with its resolve to conduct census on the Chakmas it will be but very unfortunate on the parts of such a highly regarded NGO of the country which has been known for their service towards the society.

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