E-Paper
Tripura’s Chakma body denies persecution allegations against converted families
Denying the allegation of persecution, TRCSP state secretary Shanti Bikash Chakma said that the two families were not ‘ousted’ for their conversion to Christianity, but they automatically were out and lost all privileges after their conversion
A week after the Tripura high court ordered police and the administration to intervene and take action in a case of alleged persecution of two tribal families for converting to Christianity, the Tripura Rejyo Chakma Samajik Parishad (TRCSP), the highest social organisation of the Chakma community, said that the families were not ostracised from the community but automatically were ousted as they converted to another religion.
The TRCSP also said that the families are bound to lose all facilities as they are no longer part of the Chakma community after their conversion to another religion.
Purnomoy Chakma and Tarun Chakma of the West Andharcherra village of Unakoti district were excommunicated after converting from Buddhism to Christianity in November last year along with their families.
Following this, they moved the high court, accusing two Chakma social organisations– the Chakma Samajik Bichar Committee and Adam Panchayat, of persecuting, threatening, putting their livelihood at risk, and confining them to their homes.
According to the petitioners, they had filed a police complaint, however, there was no action from them. The petitioners have alleged misuse of customary laws by the Chakma organisations for persecuting them.
Denying the allegation of persecution, TRCSP state secretary Shanti Bikash Chakma said that the two families were not ‘ousted’ for their conversion to Christianity, but they automatically were out and lost all privileges after their conversion.
He said that the community’s rituals and culture were ancient and people were getting the benefits as they were observing the community’s rituals, customs and culture.
“We could introduce ourselves as the Chakma community due to this culture. We are also getting facilities and constitutional rights due to our Chakma culture and tradition,” he said.
He added that if anybody converted to another religion, they would not follow this culture and would be out of the community.
According to the TRCSP, a total of 16 families in the village converted to another religion of whom 14 returned to Buddhism.
The Tripura Chakma often follow Mizoram’s Chakma customary law as it doesn’t have any codified Chakma customary law. According to Section 65 of the Mizoram Chakma customary law, everyone shall have the right to choose any religion of their wish and nobody can be persecuted for this.
If anyone is found involved in religious persecution, he or she would be punished and imposed a fine of Rs.500 as per the Indian Penal Code.
