Protests erupt in Dhaka demanding release of indigenous leader Ringrong Mro and case withdrawal

CHT Desk:

In a fiery demonstration against state-backed land grabs, indigenous student and youth organizations in Dhaka staged a protest rally and demonstration in front of the National Museum on Sunday, demanding the immediate release of indigenous land protection leader Ringrong Mro and the withdrawal of fabricated charges filed against him by Lama Rubber Industries Ltd.

Law enforcement authorities arrested Ringrong Mro in plain clothes last evening without presenting an arrest warrant, further fueling accusations of state complicity in corporate land seizures.

Lama Rubber Industries Ltd. was granted a lease in 1996 by the Bandarban Hill District Council for rubber cultivation.

However, since acquiring the lease, the company has been repeatedly accused of forcibly occupying land, intimidating the Mro and Tripura communities, and even torching their homes.

In 2022, the company was also accused of poisoning the only water source of local indigenous residents, an act that amounted to an attempted mass killing.

During the protest, Paya Mro, representing the Mro Students’ Council, condemned the state’s persistent oppression of indigenous communities:

“For years, the state—either directly or through its proxies—has been terrorizing ondigenous peoples and pushing them further into marginalization. The arrest of Ringrong Mro on false charges is just another manifestation of this relentless persecution.”

Riya Chakma, general secretary of Hill Women’s Federation, denounced the blatant violation of legal protocols in the arrest:

“The Home Affairs Adviser himself stated that no one should be arrested in plain clothes. Yet, yesterday, his own forces violated that principle by detaining Ringrong Mro without a warrant. Where is that Home Adviser now?”

Echoing the gravity of the situation, Saisanu Marma, general secretary of the Dhaka Metropolitan Unit of the Pahari Chhatra Parishad, declared:

“This is not an isolated incident. It is part of a long-standing, undeclared campaign of repression against indigenous peoples. If the government continues to ignore our democratic protests, the hills may one day erupt with the sounds of armed resistance.”

Reng Young Mro, vice president of the central committee of Pahari Chhatra Parishad, traced the history of Lama Rubber Industries’ corporate tyranny:

“This company has been acting like a criminal syndicate for years. Its abuses became evident in 2017 when it falsely accused local Mro and Tripura people of damaging rubber plantations.”

“A formal complaint was lodged with the then State Minister for the Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Ministry, leading to an investigative committee that ultimately recommended cancelling the lease. Yet, to this day, that recommendation has not been enforced. Instead, the company, with the backing of law enforcement, continues its sinister agenda to uproot Indigenous people from their ancestral lands.”

Dipayon Khisa, central committee member of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, pointed to the hypocrisy of the state, recalling a 2022 incident where Lama Rubber Industries set fire to Mro and Tripura homes:

“After the company burned down their homes, we attempted to set up a makeshift school for the displaced children. But we were barred from entering the area. Instead, the police accused us of illegally constructing a school.”

Is the spirit of the July uprising only meant for the Bengali majority? Will Indigenous peoples forever remain excluded from its benefits?”, Dipayon asked.

He further criticized the Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Commission, branding it a bureaucratic sham:

“These so-called reform commissions churn out reports, wasting reams of paper, yet they never acknowledge the plight of my Mro brothers, nor the suffering of Indigenous communities.”

The protest also saw expressions of solidarity from students of Dhaka University, including Kurnikova Chakma and Surmi Chakma, as well as Raihan Uddin, General Secretary of the Socialist Student Front.

The event was presided over by Montush Chakma, President of the Dhaka University Unit of Pahari Chhatra Parishad.