Lakshmichhari Correspondent, CHT News
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Three organizations held a protest march and rally in Lakshmichhari, Khagrachhari, demanding the release of Sujan Barua Simon, who was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Chattogram in an allegedly fabricated case.
The protest was jointly organized today, Wednesday (July 2, 2025), at 1:00 PM in Hudukchhari, under Lakshmichhari Upazila, by the Pahari Chhatra Parishad (PCP), Ganatantrik Juba Forum (DYF), and Hill Women’s Federation (HWF) under the slogan “Stop Political Persecution in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.”
The rally, moderated by Rupayan Chakma, General Secretary of the PCP’s Lakshmichhari Upazila unit, featured speeches from Cameron Dewan, President of the DYF’s Khagrachhari District Committee; Pranjal Chakma, Organizing Secretary of the PCP’s Khagrachhari District Committee; and Monica Chakma, Finance Secretary of the HWF’s Lakshmichhari Upazila unit.
The speakers condemned the arrest of Sujan Barua by RAB in what they described as a “false and conspiratorial” case. They stated, “On June 30, Sujan Barua traveled from Lakshmichhari to Chattogram for medical treatment. He was conspiratorially arrested by RAB and framed in a false case. He had no prior cases or warrants against him. The charges brought against him after the arrest are completely false, fabricated, and baseless.”
The speakers further added, “After the fall of the fascist Hasina government through the student-people’s uprising of ’24, the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts had hoped for a truly democratic Bangladesh under the subsequent interim government. However, this government has systematically increased oppression against leaders and supporters of the UPDF, as well as the general public, harassing them with false cases and arrests. Under the pretext of military operations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, continuous persecution, torture, and arrests are being carried out, surpassing even the repression of the Hasina era. This is a complete betrayal of the spirit of the ’24 mass uprising and a gross violation of human rights.”
From the rally, the speakers demanded the immediate withdrawal of the false case, the unconditional release of Sujan Barua, and an end to unjust arrests, persecution, and torture.
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