Guwahati / Agartala, May 27 (TIWN): 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 well 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.

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.

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 24^th 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 resolved to seek the attention and intervention of the Government of India towards the incidents of gross human rights violations and persecution faced by the Jummas (tribal communities) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh and demand that the Government of India, as a responsible and democratic key player in the sub continent should not shy away from its moral obligations to 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 CNCI, in its 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. It is highly commendable and praiseworthy that more than fifty members of the Chakma community are presently serving the state, including in the state civil services.

The meeting observed the absence of discriminatory policies of the state of Assam towards the Chakmas and other minority communities and has appreciated the government of Assam’s proactive attitude in particular, and the attitude of the people of Assam in general, in respecting and recognizing  the rights and interests of its minority communities.