Angel Chakma, a resident of Tripura in India, was studying for an MBA in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. On the night of December 9, Angel Chakma and his brother went to the market, where a group of youths from a racist majority community began to harass them. Addressing Angel with slurs such as “Chinki momo” and “Chinese,” Angel protested (as racist majoritarian groups in India often harass people from the Northeast using such terms) and repeatedly tried to explain that he was not Chinese but Indian. For this simple act of protest, he was brutally beaten and stabbed. His brother was injured, and Angel Chakma succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment on 25 December. Angel Chakma’s last words were, “I am not Chinese, I am Indian.” Even in death, he expressed his loyalty to his country and his pride in being Indian.
Angel Chakma was a resident of Tripura, “whose prince, Bikram Manik Deb Barman, has developed the doctrine of occupying the Chittagong Hill Tracts and forming Greater Tipraland. Prince Bikram believes that our Chittagong Hill Tracts and its people are more inclusive with Tripura, whereas even after seven decades of independence, they have failed to be inclusive with Northeast India.”
Angel Chakma and others like him have been victims of racism. Following this incident, civil society and social organizations in India have raised their voices and states in the Northeast have lodged protests.
This incident has drawn my attention to several issues. First, in India’s north-eastern states; particularly in Tripura or among the Chakma community, there has been no discourse of disloyalty toward the country; rather, they have appealed to the Prime Minister, demanding clear justice.
Second, the level and intensity of protests in India following the killing of Dipu Das were not matched in the case of Angel Chakma’s murder.
Third, conversely, in Bangladesh there was little concern over Angel Chakma’s killing; even our civil society in the Chittagong Hill Tracts or regional political parties did not express concern and similarly, there was no significant social or state-level protest or movement in response to the tragic death of Dipu Das in India.
This makes it clear that Bangladeshi media and society have refrained from sensationalizing or politicizing India’s internal affairs, which is consistent with the country’s foreign policy.
On the other hand, a large section of Indian media and political and social organizations have excessively sensationalized incidents in Bangladesh. Since the July movement, there has been a visible expression of anti-Bangladesh sentiment in Indian politics and media.
Bangladesh is going through a phase of political, social and economic instability. The lack of unity among stakeholders on various issues is evident. In such a situation, India is conducting “grey zone warfare” (ambiguous warfare), which includes economic pressure, cyberattacks, information warfare, the creation of a toxic situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and further fuelling internal divisions.
These will continue, because the July movement is being viewed as “political disobedience by Bangladesh”; in particular, Bangladesh’s move away from India’s sphere of influence is being perceived as an affront. Regional powers tend to have certain “egos” and Bangladesh’s political change has struck at that “ego.”
Therefore, if India’s behaviour toward Bangladesh is analysed from a geopolitical perspective, it reflects the normal conduct of a regional power; this is the reality. Now Bangladesh must take measures so that no country can exploit our fault lines as opportunities. The major fault lines include disagreements over national interest, divisive politics, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and minorities.
I wish to focus on the Chittagong Hill Tracts and minorities. In Bangladesh, we should remove the term “minority” from our vocabulary. There are small and large communities in this country, but no one is lesser. At the individual level, everyone is equal. A citizen should rise based on merit, competence and performance.
That was the essence of the July movement, for which hundreds of people sacrificed their lives. We must bring the small communities living in different regions of our country—including our hill communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts—and the religiously smaller communities under an inclusive culture. We must build a broad inclusive society, which will become the cornerstone of state policy and politics.
Bangladesh must ensure that there is no “Angel Chakma experience” here, and that we never again witness a tragic fate like that of Dipu Das. The nation must reach this consensus. National and political consensus should begin here. This consensus will give the nation a moral high ground and ethical ascendancy. It will lay the foundation for building a harmonious Bangladesh. The measure of how civilized a nation is depends, among many factors, on how it cares for its senior citizens, small communities and specially abled people. With the forthcoming election, we hope that under a new government we will reach this consensus.
-The writer is Chairman of Osmani Center for Peace.
