Devasish Roy

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Devasish Roy
𑄘𑄬𑄝𑄥𑄨𑄥𑄴 𑄢𑄧𑄠𑄴
Raja
Chief of the Chakma Circle
Tenure1971;53 years ago (1971)
Predecessor Tridev Roy
Born (1959-04-09) 9 April 1959 (age 65)
Dacca, East Pakistan, Pakistan, (now Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Consort
  • Tatu Roy
  • Yan Yan
Issue Tribhuvan Aryadev Roy
Father Tridev Roy
Mother Arati Roy
Religion Theravada Buddhism
OccupationPolitician, lawyer
Military career
Allegiance Chakma Circle
Years of service1977 - present

Devasish Roy (also spelled Debashish Roy; [1] born 9 April 1959) [2] is a Bangladeshi politician and lawyer. [3] He is the titular Raja of the Chakma Circle, Bangladesh's largest indigenous community, [4] and was a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2014 to 2016. [5]

Contents

Career

Born in a Chakma family, [2] Roy is a lawyer by profession and served as a Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh (head of the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh) during the 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis. He was in charge of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs and the Ministry of Forest and Environment. [3]

Roy became King of the Chakma Circle after his father Tridev Roy went into exile following the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971. In the 1970 general election Raja Tridev Roy had been elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as one of the only two non-Awami League candidates from East Pakistan. The former Raja who opposed the independence of Bangladesh fled Rangamati and escaped to Pakistan at the end of the Bangladesh Liberation War. However most of the royal family, including the Rani and Yuvraj, were still left at the Rangamati Palace. After the emergence of Bangladesh, Yuvraj Devasish Roy was proclaimed Raja due to the absence of his father. [6] [7]

Personal life

Roy was married to Tatu Roy until her death in 1998. [1] [8] The couple have two children, a son, Tribhuvan Aryadev Roy, and a daughter. [1] [8] [2] On 4 July 2014, he married Yan Yan, an ethnic Rakhine. [1] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chittagong Hill Tracts</span> Region in southeastern Bangladesh

The Chittagong (Chadigang) Hill Tracts, often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, are a group of districts within the Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar (Burma) in the east. Covering 13,295 square kilometres (5,133 sq mi), they formed a single district until 1984, when they were divided into three districts: Khagrachhari, Rangamati, and Bandarban.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chakma people</span> Ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent

The Chakma people or Changhma people (Chakma:𑄌𑄋𑄴𑄟𑄳𑄦), are an ethnic group from the eastern-most regions of the Indian subcontinent and Western Myanmar. They are the largest ethnic group of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of southeastern Bangladesh, and the largest in the Chakma Autonomous District Council of Mizoram, India. Significant Chakma populations are found in the northeast Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Assam.

Raja Tridiv Roy sometimes spelled Tridev Roy, was a Pakistani politician, diplomat and writer who was the Minister of the Minority Affairs in Zulfikar Ali Bhutto cabinet. He was also the 50th Raja/King of the Chakma tribe in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of present-day Bangladesh from 2 May 1953, until his abdication in 1971 following the Bangladesh Liberation War. He chose to remain a Pakistani when Bangladesh achieved independence in 1971. He became known as a writer, diplomat, Buddhist religious leader and politician in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddhism in Bangladesh</span>

Buddhism is the third-largest religious affiliation and formed about 0.63% of the population of Bangladesh. It is said that Buddha once in his life came to this region of East Bengal to spread his teachings and he was successful in converting the local people to Buddhism, specially in the Chittagong division and later on Pala empire propagate and patronized Buddhist religion throughout the Bengal territory. About 1 million people in Bangladesh adhere to the Theravada school of Buddhism. Over 65% of the Buddhist population is concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where it is the predominant faith of the Rakhine, Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya, other Jumma people and the Barua. The remaining 35% are Bengali Buddhists. Buddhist communities are present in the urban centers of Bangladesh, particularly Chittagong and Dhaka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangamati Hill District</span> District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict</span> Conflict between the Bangladeshi government and tribal insurgents

The Insurgency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts refers to a political and armed conflict that occurred in Bangladesh in two phases:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jumma people</span> Tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts

The Jumma people is a term usually referred to the minority tribal group of people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh, who used to claim a separate state called Jummaland. They include the Chakma, Arakanese (Rakhine), Marma, Tripuri, Tanchangya, Chak, Pankho, Mru, Bawm, Lushai, Khyang, and Khumi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajguru Aggavamsa Mahathera</span>

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RajmataBenita Roy was a Bangladeshi aristocrat, litterateur, diplomat and minister. She was the forty-ninth Rani of the Chakma Circle in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Roy served as the Rajmata during the kingship of Tridev Roy and Debashish Roy. She was a member of Bangladesh's first delegation to the UN General Assembly in 1972. She was a minister in the Bangladeshi government from 1975 to 1978.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chakma Circle</span>

The Chakma Circle, also known as the Chakma Raj, is one of three hereditary chiefdoms in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of modern-day Bangladesh. The Chakma Circle encompasses parts of Rangamati Hill District and Dighinala and Rajasthali Upazilas in neighbouring Khagrachari District and Bandarban District respectively. The chiefdom's members are of Chakma descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengali Buddhists</span> Religious subgroup of the Bengalis

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mong Circle</span>

The Mong Circle is one of three hereditary chiefdoms in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of modern-day Bangladesh. The jurisdiction of the Mong Circle encompasses parts of Khagrachhari District. The chiefdom's members are of Marma descent and are known as phalansa. Most inhabitants of the Mong Circle settled in the northwest during a migration wave from the Kingdom of Mrauk U between the 16th and 18th centuries, while inhabitants of the other Marma chiefdom, the Bohmong Circle settled in the south and are known as ragraisa.

The three districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari, still have monarchs. In 1860, the British government divided the Chittagong Hill Tracts into three circles, Chakma, Bomang and Mong. Bomang Circle is located in Bandarban, Chakma Circle in Rangamati and Mong Circle in Khagrachari. The monarchs of these three districts are known as three kings. For hundreds of years, the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts have been following the orders of the three kings. But the kings do not have much power now. Their activities are limited to issuing permanent resident certificates, tax collection, some social justice, arbitration meetings. But the three kings have a long history.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Chakma Raja Debashish Roy wedded". The Report 24. 6 July 2014 via Nirvana Peace.
  2. 1 2 3 Illius, Shamsuddin (22 December 2017). "Chakma Raja Celebrates 40 Years". The Independent. Dhaka.
  3. 1 2 "Raja Devasish Roy" (PDF). United Nations.
  4. Monet, Jenni (1 May 2015). "Indigenous Jumma People Vow to Launch 'Non-Cooperation Movement' on Bangladesh". Indian Country Today .
  5. "UNPFII Members". United Nations.
  6. "Chittagong's former Chakma raja who left Bangladesh to live in Pakistan". The Indian Express. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  7. Correspondent, Our; Rangamati (19 September 2012). "Tridiv Roy passes away". The Daily Star. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 চাকমা রাজার দ্বিতীয় বিয়ে [Chakma king's second marriage]. The Report 24 (in Bengali). 5 July 2014.