SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF THE 50TH CHAKMA RAJA Sunday, 30 September 2012 18:05 administrator THE LATE RAJA TRIDIV ROY Birth: Rangamati, 14 May, 1933 Marriage & Installation: Rangamati, 2 March, 1953 Passing Away: Islamabad, 17 September, 2013 FAMILY Raja Tridiv Roy was born as the second child and first son of Raja Nalinaksha Roy & Rani Benita Roy. His siblings are: Rajkumari Amiti, Rajkumar Samit (who passed away in 2008), Rajkumari Moitri, Rajkumari Rajasree (Rakhi) and Rajkumar Nandit. Raja Nalinaksha was the 49th Chakma Raja and the son of Raja Bhuvan Mohan Roy and Rani Dayamoyi Roy. Rani Benita was the eldest daughter of barrister Saral Sen (son of Brahmananda Keshub Chandra Sen) of Kolkata. Raja Tridiv’s first wife is Rani Arati Roy. The children are Rajkumari Chandra, Raja Devasish, Rajkumar Sivasish, Rajkumar Indrasish and Rajkumari Triveni. His second rani (later divorced) was Rani Anjali (widowed from her second marriage). Their children are Chand and Rajkumari Piya. The third rani (later divorced) was Rani Martine (Quentric; since remarried). Rajkumar Padma Sambhava Gwenhale was their only issue. CHAKMA RAJA He functioned as the Chakma Raja or Chakma Chief from 1951 to 1971. Although the formal investiture or installation was held about two years later (on 3 March, 1953), he took over as the Chief immediately after his father, Raja Nalinaksha’s, death, on 7 October, 1951. Raja Tridiv left Rangamati on 9 November, 1971, for a tour of Southeast Asia as a special envoy of the Government of Pakistan, never to return to his homeland. In 1974, his eldest son, Yuvaraj Devasish Roy, was declared as Chakma Raja and as Raja Tridiv’s successor. From 1974 to 1977, Kumar Samit Roy, younger brother of Raja Tridiv, acted as Regent, until the Yuvaraj took over functions of the office of the Chakma Raj. GOVERNMENT & OTHER PUBLIC POSITIONS He was granted honorary commission in the Pakistan Land Forces and appointed Honorary Aide-de-Camp to the Governor General of Pakistan. He was elected Vice-Chairman of the District Council, Chittagong Hill Tracts (unopposed). Later he was twice elected to the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly (once unopposed) and once to the National Assembly of Pakistan. He served the Government of Pakistan in several positions, including as Federal Minister, Presidential Adviser, Ambassador-at-Large and as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He represented the country at several international conference including the following: Sixth World Buddhist Council, Yangon (1956), 2500th Buddha Jayanti Celebrations, New Delhi (1956), World Food Congress, Washington DC (1963), General Assembly, United Nations (1963, 1972 and several more times). SPECIAL HONOURS BY GOVERNMENTS & CIVIL SOCIETY On 14 November, 2005 he was conferred the award of Sri Lanka Ranjana by the President of Sri Lanka in 2005 for his meritorious services to the Pakistani and international Buddhist communities (he was the Founding President of the All Pakistan Buddhist Society). On 2 March, 2007 he was conferred the award of Saddhamma Jotikadhaka in Yangon by the Government of the U ion of Myanmar in recognition of his contributions to the purification, perpetuation and propagation of teachings of the Gautama Buddha. On 1 November, 2009 he was conferred the award of Saddhamma Dipa at Sarnath, India by the Shishu Koruna Sangha Trust, Kolkata. He gave several talks on Buddhism and wrote articles on Buddhist philosophy for several newspapers and journals in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He also gave several talks on Buddhism in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (former Burma) and Thailand. PUBLICATIONS His major publications include the following: They Simply Belong, The Windswept Wahini, The Departed Melody: Memoirs, PPA Publications, Islamabad, 2010, ISBN. 969-8587-10-1 and South American Diaries: A Pakistani Ambassador’s Journal (1981-1995), National Book Foundation, Islamabad, 2009. He has also published short stories and articles in several newspapers and journals in Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries. MAJOR EVENTS DURING HIS INCUMBENCY AS CHAKMA CHIEF The people of the Chakma territory (Chakma Circle) and the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) had to face several major challenges during the period of his incumbency as the Chakma Raja (1951-1971). In the 1950s, in partnership with other leaders of the hill region, including then members of the provincial legislative assembly, Kamini Mohan Dewan and Birendra Kishore Roaza, he prevented the erosion of the special constitutional, political and administrative status of the CHT and planned population transfer of non-indigenous people into the area. In 1960, when the Kaptai Hydroelectric Dam was constructed, leading to the displacement of nearly 100,000 people and the permanent flooding of their homes and lands, including the palace of the Chakma Rajas and prime agricultural land of the region, he helped rehabilitate his people on new and inhospitable lands, facilitating major occupational changes and causing acute economic, social and cultural disruptions. More than ten thousand displacees, and their more numerous descendants, still irk out an existence as stateless refuges in Arunachal Pradesh, India. In 1971, in partnership with one of the elected leaders of the region, the late Manobendra Narayan Larma (who later led the armed struggle for autonomy for the CHT and died in an intra-party struggle), he resisted the eviction of indigenous people from the Reingkhyong Reserved Forest by members of the Forest Department and East Pakistan Rifles. He helped spread education in his region by facilitating the establishment of schools and colleges and by securing their admission to institutions in the capital city and elsewhere. In 1971, he gave shelter to numerous people, including indigenous people and Bengali (Muslim, Hindu, Christian and Buddhist) who were at risk of massacre or other atrocities by the Pakistan Army. SOURCE: Link - chakmaraj/about-chakma-raj/5-articles/48-short-biography-of-the-50th-chakma-raja
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 14:12:38 +0000