The Hill Women鈥檚 Federation and Parbatya Chattogram Nari Sangha held a protest rally in Khagrachari on Friday, demanding that the order, issued by a Rangamati court on April 23 dismissing the trial over the disappearance of Chittagong Hill Tracts-based rights activist Kalpana Chakma, be cancelled.聽聽
About 300 national minority people joined the rally organised to mark the 28th anniversary of Kalpana鈥檚 abduction, allegedly at gunpoint with her two brothers from her village home in New Lallyaghona of Rangamati鈥檚 Baghaichari by security forces from a nearby army camp on June 12, said a press release.
The protesters also staged a symbolic execution of the accused, Lieutenant Ferdous of Kojoichari army camp, and two Village Defence Party personnel, Nurul Haq and Saleh Ahmed, while demanding punishment for the accused individuals and information on Kalpana鈥檚 whereabouts.
鈥楾hose leading movements for the liberation of CHT people from oppression are reportedly being targeted and killed,鈥� said Pahari Chhatra Parishad鈥檚 Khagrachari district vice-president Mithun Chakma.
鈥業ncidents of murders, disappearances, and abductions have become common in the CHT due to military rule and these acts are allegedly carried out by security forces,鈥� he said, emphasising that Kalpana鈥檚 case serves as a significant example of this trend.聽
Anti Chakma, Khagrachari district unit convener of the Hill Women鈥檚 Federation, said that protests demanding justice for Kalpana would continue until it was achieved.
Kanika Dewan, president of Parbatya Chattogram Nari Sangha, alleged that the ruling Awami League government utilised court to dismiss the case by clearing all suspects in the case of the charges.聽
Kalpana, an organising secretary of the Hill Women鈥檚 Federation, was 23 years old when she was abducted in 1996.
Kalpana鈥檚 brother Kalindi Kumar Chakma filed a case against the perpetrators and over the years, the case underwent investigations by 38 officers who failed to submit any report.
Later in 2016, then superintendent of police of Rangamati Sayed Tariqul Hassan, as the 39th investigation officer, submitted the final report.
The victim鈥檚 family filed a no-confidence petition challenging the final report.
On April 23 in 2024, the court accepted the police final report.