C T Online Desk: After around 28 years, the Rangamati court has accepted the final report on the Kalpana Chakma abduction case. The court also rejected a naraji (no-confidence) petition filed by the Kalpana Chakma family challenging the police report submitted in September 2016. The submission of the final report by the police and the court accepting the report were miscarriages of justice. This may lead peoples’ faith in the judicial system to wane because of the one-sided judgement.
The eyewitness, Kalpana Chakma’s brother Kalindi Kumar Chakma, identified their three captors by name and ensured that all the possible information he could give was passed on to the police. However, the police ignored this information. The people of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have kept their faith and waited 28 years for a free and fair verdict from the honourable court. But this judgement has scarred that faith and has disappointed all the people of CHT and the nation alike.
There have always been strong allegations that the people living in the CHT areas have not been getting proper justice under the country’s judicial system. And this verdict on Kalpana Cakma has only added another case to prove it again. Have the police been trying to save the accused? Have they finally achieved what they’ve been looking to achieve? This verdict demonstrates that Kalpana Chakma’s incident, her existence, everything she stood for were in the wrong.
Kalpana’s brothers, Kalindi and Lal, were also abducted with Kalpana. But they managed to escape. They named three of the abductors, one from the Bangladesh military and two from the Village Defence Party, a paramilitary organization.
If the given verdict is true, then the question arises, where is Kalpana? In a democratic country, how can a citizen like Kalpana disappear and who will answer this question? A verdict as one-sided as this will only increase the culture of impunity. Even after 28 years, the perpetrators of this heinous crime can continue to enjoy absolute impunity and the state is now legally allowing it permanently.
Kalpana Chakma — a fearless indigenous activist, who held the position of organizing secretary of the Hill Women’s Federation, was abducted along with two of her brothers in June 1996, 28 years ago, when she was only 23 years old. This is the truth.
What had she done so heinous that the military personnel felt inclined to silence her permanently? All Kalpana Chakma did was live with honour and dignity as a member of the Jumma people.
The Hill Women’s Federation members and Kalpana’s brother have yet to relent in their quest for ratifying the truth. They have campaigned all this time, and with the help of public support from around the world, they continue to fight for Kalpana’s justice and they will not stop. We stand with the family of Kalpana Chakma and will keep fighting together until and unless we get justice for Kalpana.
The tireless work of Bangladeshi activists, who continue to demand justice for Kalpana shall not go in vain. By asking about Kalpana, we are also asking about what happened to all of our “lost” Bangladeshi sisters and brothers. What about Sabita Chakma? Tuma Ching Marma was raped and murdered. Tonu, our sister, was murdered in the Comilla Cantonment area on March 20, 2016. And so many more. What about all of their justice?
