Aizawl: The Chakmas of Mizoram observed "black day" on Friday in protest against the forced occupation of their homeland in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh by the Pakistani army in 1947.
Chittagong Hill Tracts is ancestral homeland of the Chakmas.
The event, organised by the Mizoram state committee of the Chakma National Council of India (CNCI) at Chawngte or Kamalanagar, the headquarters of Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC) in south Mizoram's Lawngtlai district, was attended by party leaders, NGOs, students, intellectuals and CADC employees. The day was observed by the Chakmas for the third time.
The president of CNCI, Mizoram, Rasik Mohan Chakma, vice-president Amarsmriti Chakma, member of the Central Young Chakma Association Milon Chakma, member of the Mizoram Chakma Students' Union Pushporath Chakma and CNCI member Prabin Chakma spoke on the significance of the day.
All participants wore black badges.
The speakers blamed the then leadership for their "meek effort in including Chittagong Hill Tracts within the dominion of India".
The speakers cited how Chittagong Hill Tracts was beyond the purview of the Bengal Boundary Commission and was excluded from CHT Regulation 1 of 1900 and, therefore, could not have been treated as a part of Bengal.
The gathering said awarding of Chittagong Hill Tracts to Pakistan by the Bengal Boundary Commission was illegal and, therefore, challengeable in the International Court of Justice.
It also recalled how the western strip of the present day Mizoram, inhabited by the Chakmas, was once part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts before 1900 and later enjoined with South Lushai Hill for the administrative convenience of the British government.
The meeting observed that this has caused the Chakmas of Mizoram to be treated as foreigners in their own ancestral homeland.
The Chakmas of India have been observing August 17 as black day since 2016.
The day was also observed by the Chakmas in Tripura.
CNCI vice-president Aniruddha Chakma told reporters in Agartala on Friday taht due to "illogical and forceful" inclusion of the Chittagong Hill Tracts into East Pakistan, the Chakma community faced a lot of problems such as homelessness and persecution by the Pakistani forces. He said the people of Speaking to reporters in Agartala on Friday afternoon, have their loyalty with India.
The Tripura Chakma Students' Association held a protest rally in Agartala.
The Chakmas from East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh, sought refuge in India in several phases since the early 1960s.
Many were rehabilitated in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Assam. They have complained about ethnic persecution in the neighbouring country.
Additional reporting by Tanmoy Chkraborty in Agartala
