MN Larma's 87th Birth Anniversary Marked in the Chittagong Hill Tracts

The Chittagong Hill Tracts region is observing the 87th birth anniversary of Manabendra Narayan Larma on September 15. This significant date marks the commemoration of a prominent historical figure who dedicated significant efforts toward the political and social landscape of the indigenous communities living within the hill districts.

Manabendra Narayan Larma played a foundational role in the regional political movement by establishing the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti in 1972. Through the creation of this organization, he sought to politically organize the local populations and address the complex governance and rights issues facing the communities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts following the independence of Bangladesh.

The historical context of the region has been heavily shaped by major infrastructural disruptions, notably the construction of the Kaptai hydroelectric project. This massive engineering undertaking had devastating environmental and demographic consequences for the local inhabitants, as it permanently submerged forty percent of all arable land across the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Furthermore, the flooding caused by the hydroelectric project resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis, displacing more than one hundred thousand indigenous people from their traditional ancestral homelands. This forced displacement fractured traditional ways of life and created enduring socioeconomic challenges that the population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts has had to navigate for decades.

As the region marks the 87th birth anniversary of Manabendra Narayan Larma on September 15, discussions surrounding the historical struggles of the area often revisit both his founding of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti in 1972 and the profound long-term impacts of the Kaptai dam displacement on the local populace.