Indigenous land protection leader forcibly taken in plain clothes as land grabs intensify in CHT

Sanjoy Kumar Barua

In a brazen act of repression, Ringrong Mro, a prominent leader of the Indigenous Jhum Land Protection Committee in Bandarban’s Lama Upazila, has been forcibly taken away by police in plain clothes, his family alleges.

“My father was abducted by police in plain clothes,” said his son, Johan Mro, adding that authorities refused to present an arrest warrant despite demands from locals.

The abduction, which took place around 6:10 pm in Lamba Khola area on Saturday, is the latest in a series of violent crackdowns on Indigenous land defenders resisting Lama Rubber Industries Ltd.’s illegal occupation of ancestral land.

“They filed three false cases against my father just because he was fighting to protect our land. And now they have targeted me too,” Johan Mro stated.

Repeated calls to Lama police station went unanswered, reinforcing suspicions that law enforcement is complicit in the corporate-backed land grab.

For years, Lama Rubber Industries Ltd. has been attempting to seize 400 acres of ancestral land belonging to the Mro and Tripura communities in Lama Upazila’s Soroi Union.

Villagers accuse the company of not only unlawful occupation but also systematic terror campaigns to drive indigenous people from their ancestral land.

Reports indicate that the company’s hired men have repeatedly attacked villages, setting fire to Jhum fields, desecrating Buddhist monasteries, and looting properties.

“They vandalized Ashok Buddhist Monastery, looted Buddha statues, and burned our fields. When we tried to resist, they filed cases against us,” said a local resident.

Earlier, Rangdhajan Tripura, convener of the Land Protection Struggle Committee, stated:

“Our 400 acres of ancestral Jhum land is still under threat. If we lose this land, we lose our very existence.”

“This land lies west of the Lama Rubber Industries plantation. Since 2017, we have been threatened. On April 9, 2022, the company’s chairman, Moazzem Hossain, along with project director Md. Kamal Uddin and managing director Md. Zahirul Islam, hired over 200 Rohingyas to attack our land. They chopped down all the trees. Then, on April 26, they set fire to the plantation, destroying millions in natural resources. Our community suffered severe food shortages and health crises as the fire killed wildlife and contaminated water sources.”

Despite overwhelming evidence of land grabbing and violent attacks, the government and administration have remained complicit.

“Those who should be held accountable for these heinous crimes are instead being protected by the authorities,” Rangdhajan Tripura asserted.

A particularly brutal attack took place in January 2023 in Rengyen Mro Para, where armed assailants looted homes, torched seven houses, and forced villagers to flee into the cold night.

“Women, children, and elderly residents barely escaped with their lives. When they returned, their homes were destroyed, and their belongings stolen,” recalled a survivor.

In the notorious arson attack on April 26, 2022, the company burned 350 acres of Jhum land in Rengyen para, Langkom para, and Joychandra Tripura para.

The National Human Rights Commission later instructed district officials and police to take legal action and rehabilitate the affected Indigenous families.

Yet, land-grabbing operations continue with impunity.

On September 24, 2022, the land grabbers also cut down 300 banana trees belonging to an Indigenous villager of Rengyen para and filed multiple false cases against the land defenders of the area.