By Suman Chakma
Note: This is not to blame anyone or whoever responsible for this but to regret myself for the worse changes occurred, which otherwise anyone of us would be somewhere at he or she is not today.
The Chakmas are the tribals of the Northeastern states of India. They are settled mainly in the states of Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and West Bengal. They migrated from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of East Bengal (now Bangladesh) to the Mizo hills. It is also believed that earlier they migrated from the Champa Kingdom in Cambodia and the Lushai’s called Chakmas as Tui-Chek, which means the people who lived near water. Chakmas have close resemblance to Mongolians of the Tibeto-Burman groups. Chakmas are divided into 46 clans or Gozas. A tribal group called Tongchangya are also considered to be a branch of the Chakma people. Both tribes speak the same language, have the same customs and culture, and profess the same religion.Chakmas follow in Buddhism (Theravada Buddhism) and have a language(known as Changma Vaj or Changma Kodha) of Burmese stock and Sanskrit scripts. Agar Tara, a version of Buddhist scripture is their oldest scripture. It is read on the special occasions like marriages, funerals etc.
Chakmas are the Mongoloid tribes probably of Arakanese origin. The name Chakma is sometime spelt as ‘Tsakma’ Tsak or Thek in Burmese. They might have migrated from a place somewhere in South-East Asia. The Chakmas are the original inhabitants of the CHT are perhaps the least known people of Asia being the residents of a remote and backward area which is of little political or economic consequence. This place has been the homeland of the Chakmas particularly for centuries. Though the origin of the Chakmas is too murky, their history connects them with the mountainous kingdom of Kapilnagar in the Himalayan ranges. It is learnt that from 1052 A.D onwards the Chakmas started moving from Arakan into the bordering area of Bengal right down the plain areas of Chittagong (Bangladesh) and made it their home.
There is very little documentation available on the early history of the Chakmas. However, there is evidence of the mention of a place known as ‘Chacomas’ in central CHT, probably referring to the land inhabited by the Chakmas, in the 1550s where a Burmese king claims himself to be the ‘highest and most powerful king of Arakan, Tippera (Tripura), of Chacomas and of Bengala’.
The name Chakma derives from Sanskrit word Sakthiman or beholder of power. This name was given to Chakmas by one of the Burmese kings during the Bagan era.At one stage, the accepted name of the tribe was Sakma. Later it was further corrupted to Chakma.
In 1947, Cyril Radcliffe ceded the CHT district to Pakistan, when the India was partitioned on the basis of religion into Islamic Pakistan and secular India, though the district was 98.5 percent Buddhist. On the 15th of August 1947, Chakma youths under the leadership of Dangu Sneha Kumar Chakma hoisted the Indian tricolour at Rangamati. Six days later the Pakistanis lowered the Indian tricolor at gunpoint.
On the other side, Jawaharlal Nehru promised Dangu Sneha Kumar Chakma, the representative of the Parbattya Chattogram Jana Samity(PCJS),that the Bengal Boundary Commission had no jurisdiction over the CHT. Before India’s independence, Dangu Sneha Kumar Chakma had met Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru in July 1947 and was promised by both, that CHT would remain with India. On 18th of July 1947, when the Indian Independence Act was published, it showed that Cyril Radcliff had not listened to the submissions of the two Hindu members of the Bengal Boundary Commission, Justice Bijon Mukherjee and Charu Biswas, that CHT should be with India. Dangu Sneha Kumar ran to Delhi after hoisting the Indian Tricolor at Rangamati on the 15th of August 1947, to meet the Indian leaders to try and get revised the decision of Cyril Radcliffe. He met Sardar Patel, who told him that he was with him but he should meet Jawaharlal Nehru. It took 50 days for Dangu Sneha Kumar Chakma to meet Nehru. When he finally got an audience and told Nehru that CHT should be with India, and the Chakmas were ready to fight for this and would help India with arms, Nehru got up in anger and shouted, " Do you propose to bring India under foreign rule again? " That decision sounded the death knell for the hapless Chakmas. Thus, the Chakmas had to unwillingly join Pakistan.
The Chakmas now have representations in the Mizoram General Assembly, Tipura Legislative Assembly and Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council. The only seat of political power and identity is the Chakma Autonomous District Council(CADC,which was created on 29th of April in 1972) in India, though it covers only 35% of the Chakmas living in Mizoram State in India. There are another 80,000 Chakmas in Rakhine state of Myanmar. The Chakmas in Myanmar are known as Daingnet people.
Note: This is not to blame anyone or whoever responsible for this but to regret myself for the worse changes occurred, which otherwise anyone of us would be somewhere at he or she is not today.
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| Cyril Radcliffe |
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| Jawharlal Nehru |
The Chakmas are the tribals of the Northeastern states of India. They are settled mainly in the states of Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and West Bengal. They migrated from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of East Bengal (now Bangladesh) to the Mizo hills. It is also believed that earlier they migrated from the Champa Kingdom in Cambodia and the Lushai’s called Chakmas as Tui-Chek, which means the people who lived near water. Chakmas have close resemblance to Mongolians of the Tibeto-Burman groups. Chakmas are divided into 46 clans or Gozas. A tribal group called Tongchangya are also considered to be a branch of the Chakma people. Both tribes speak the same language, have the same customs and culture, and profess the same religion.Chakmas follow in Buddhism (Theravada Buddhism) and have a language(known as Changma Vaj or Changma Kodha) of Burmese stock and Sanskrit scripts. Agar Tara, a version of Buddhist scripture is their oldest scripture. It is read on the special occasions like marriages, funerals etc.
Chakmas are the Mongoloid tribes probably of Arakanese origin. The name Chakma is sometime spelt as ‘Tsakma’ Tsak or Thek in Burmese. They might have migrated from a place somewhere in South-East Asia. The Chakmas are the original inhabitants of the CHT are perhaps the least known people of Asia being the residents of a remote and backward area which is of little political or economic consequence. This place has been the homeland of the Chakmas particularly for centuries. Though the origin of the Chakmas is too murky, their history connects them with the mountainous kingdom of Kapilnagar in the Himalayan ranges. It is learnt that from 1052 A.D onwards the Chakmas started moving from Arakan into the bordering area of Bengal right down the plain areas of Chittagong (Bangladesh) and made it their home.
There is very little documentation available on the early history of the Chakmas. However, there is evidence of the mention of a place known as ‘Chacomas’ in central CHT, probably referring to the land inhabited by the Chakmas, in the 1550s where a Burmese king claims himself to be the ‘highest and most powerful king of Arakan, Tippera (Tripura), of Chacomas and of Bengala’.
The name Chakma derives from Sanskrit word Sakthiman or beholder of power. This name was given to Chakmas by one of the Burmese kings during the Bagan era.At one stage, the accepted name of the tribe was Sakma. Later it was further corrupted to Chakma.
In 1947, Cyril Radcliffe ceded the CHT district to Pakistan, when the India was partitioned on the basis of religion into Islamic Pakistan and secular India, though the district was 98.5 percent Buddhist. On the 15th of August 1947, Chakma youths under the leadership of Dangu Sneha Kumar Chakma hoisted the Indian tricolour at Rangamati. Six days later the Pakistanis lowered the Indian tricolor at gunpoint.
On the other side, Jawaharlal Nehru promised Dangu Sneha Kumar Chakma, the representative of the Parbattya Chattogram Jana Samity(PCJS),that the Bengal Boundary Commission had no jurisdiction over the CHT. Before India’s independence, Dangu Sneha Kumar Chakma had met Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru in July 1947 and was promised by both, that CHT would remain with India. On 18th of July 1947, when the Indian Independence Act was published, it showed that Cyril Radcliff had not listened to the submissions of the two Hindu members of the Bengal Boundary Commission, Justice Bijon Mukherjee and Charu Biswas, that CHT should be with India. Dangu Sneha Kumar ran to Delhi after hoisting the Indian Tricolor at Rangamati on the 15th of August 1947, to meet the Indian leaders to try and get revised the decision of Cyril Radcliffe. He met Sardar Patel, who told him that he was with him but he should meet Jawaharlal Nehru. It took 50 days for Dangu Sneha Kumar Chakma to meet Nehru. When he finally got an audience and told Nehru that CHT should be with India, and the Chakmas were ready to fight for this and would help India with arms, Nehru got up in anger and shouted, " Do you propose to bring India under foreign rule again? " That decision sounded the death knell for the hapless Chakmas. Thus, the Chakmas had to unwillingly join Pakistan.
The Chakmas now have representations in the Mizoram General Assembly, Tipura Legislative Assembly and Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council. The only seat of political power and identity is the Chakma Autonomous District Council(CADC,which was created on 29th of April in 1972) in India, though it covers only 35% of the Chakmas living in Mizoram State in India. There are another 80,000 Chakmas in Rakhine state of Myanmar. The Chakmas in Myanmar are known as Daingnet people.