Commander Shariful Islam again!

chtnews.com
News No. 120/2009, September 11, 2009

The Khagrachari district units of the Democratic Youth Forum, Hill Women’s Federation and Hill Students’ Council held their joint conference yesterday at Khagrachari Town Hall.

The conference was attended by an estimated 3,000 members and supporters who came in from different Upazilas in buses and jeeps. They met no obstacles on the way except in Guimara.

The Laxmichari zone commander Shariful Islam and his soldiers halted the jeeps carrying the participants of the conference at a place called Hatimura and searched their hand bags.

The commander was on his way to Guimara Brigade from Laxmichari. He held the participants there for one and a half hours in the name of search so that they reached the conference venue late.

Shariful asked Apruchi Marma, convenor of PCP Manikchari Unit -- who was leading the delegates -- who provided the funds for the conference and how they were collected.

He said “you are misguiding the youths and the school going children by talking about struggle and putting arms into their hands.”

He went on lecturing: “terrorism and extortion cannot be an ideal for any political party; you will join DYF from PCP and from DYF to UPDF. UPDF has one thousand armed cadres.”

He showed pictures of Rupali brand shoes on the screen of his mobile phone and said “UPDF ‘terrorists’ wear this footwear and practice extortion.”

When Aprichi refuted all these slanderous allegations, Shariful Islam took to a mean tactic of inciting communal division.

He asked Apruchi whether he is from Marma community. When he replied “yes”, Shariful said, cunningly: “in Chittagong Hill Tracts Marmas and Tripuras are deprived of opportunities. The Marmas get only 3 percent of the opportunities, while he Chakmas enjoy all the privileges.”

He went on to say: “out of 31 reserved seats for Australian scholarships for higher education, the Marmas have only 1. Being a Marma, why you are engaged in the struggle?”

In reply, Apruchi told the commander that there is no problem between the Chakmas, Marmas and Tripuras; “it is you who are misguiding the common people by spreading false propaganda.” he said.

Broaching the subject of the settlers, the zone commander said “you are harassing the Bengali people and encroaching on their lands.”

Apruchi refuted this again, saying that it was the settlers who were grabbing Jumma people’s lands and evicting them from their homesteads.

“We are not against the settlers. Rather, on their behalf we are demanding for their honourable rehabilitation in the plain land” Apruchi said. “It is you who are using them as human shields and inciting them to communal violence to destabilize the CHT situation.”

Apruchi protested the way the commander halted their vehicles and said: “it is the job of the terrorists to halt vehicles and harass the passengers like this. You are acting like a terrorist.”

Apruchi gave Shariful a good dressing down, and after much protest the commander had to let them go.

Zone commander Shariful also halted other public vehicles coming from Laxmicahri and Manikchari directions in front of Guimara Brigade and checked them.

Lest we forget! It is the same Shariful Islam who had tried to foil a rally organised jointly by Democratic Youth Forum and Boroitali Land Protection Committee in Manikchari on 10 July.

Again, this is the same army commander who held secret meetings with misguided Jumma youths in Manikchari and Laxmichari and persuaded them to join the so-called CHTNF (Chittagong Hill Tracts Nationalist Forum) created by the army in Bandarban.

The name of Shariful evokes terror in the hearts of the Jumma people. He reigns supreme in Laxmichari and Manikchari and terrorize the people.