Dr. R. S. Dewan: His Contribution to CHT ( Chittagong Hill tracts ) Movement for Right to Self-Determination Dr. R. S. Dewan: His Contribution to CHT Movement for Right to Self-Determination One of the outstanding Jumma classical talents who uncompromisingly fought throughout his life and still fighting at his 90s with his sharp pen for the CHT movement for the right to self-determination and who thus sacrificed his life totally, without any expectation of material gain at all, for the cause of the Jumma indigenous people is Dr. Rabendu Shekhar Dewan! Dr. Dewan left then tumultuous CHT for The UK in the early 1960s with a mission aimed at garnering international support for the right to self-determination of the Jumma indigenous people. While working for his mission, he also managed to do his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Salford University, The UK. After completion of his academic study, he found no time to seek a job for his daily survival and a woman for his marriage and family due to his hectic campaign for his mission. Because of his works on the CHT issue, he has become a household word to a many European civil and human rights organizations and international bodies, like the UN and EP, during his prime times. He played a crucial role in forming the first ever International Commission on CHT in the late 1980s. It would not be, I think, an exaggeration to say that it was his international campaign for the CHT cause that led to the formation of the Commission, although there were also many who worked for it behind the scene. In this context, the contribution of Venerable Rajguru Agravamsa Mahathera, Venerable Bimal Bhante etc to internationalization of the CHT issue, is also worth mentioning. The Commission, it may be mentioned, was the first of its kind to investigate gross human rights abuses by Bangladeshi forces against the indigenous people of CHT. It published its first report captioned Life is not Ours: Land and Human Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh in 1991 (iwgia.org/publications/search-pubs?publication_id=129). It brought the hitherto hidden CHT issue to the forefront of international human rights arena. Its impact in human rights promotion and protection in CHT was far-reaching for those times. A highly self-confident, a totally selfless for and dedicated to the CHT cause and a man of substance and high moral standard and integrity Dr. R.S. Dewan is rarely found in todays Jumma society. I am told that no Bengali Muslim professional diplomats of his times could face his articulations on the Jumma indigenous people’s inalienable right to self-determination. He is also said to have drowned them all in the ocean of his irrefutable arguments for the CHT cause and on international law relating to the rights of indigenous peoples. Now old, he lives in Manchester City, The UK. He deserves honor and attention from all of us. Please dont forget his outstanding contribution to the CHT Movement for the right to self-Determination of the Jumma indigenous people. Note: Those who want to contact him on phone can inbox me for his contact number. N. Chakma 24 March 2014 Life is not Ours : iwgia.org/iwgia_files_publications_files/0129_Life_is_not_ours_1-108.pdf
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 22:50:15 +0000
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