Supriya Chakma, Hill Voice, 19 August 2025:
Suhas Chakma provides legal assistance to the accused instead of the victim
While Suhas Chakma claims to be messiah of the oppressed Chakmas, the ugly truth is that he is the real oppressor who is terrorising the peace-loving, law fearing Chakma indigenous peoples through prosecution in courts and filing of false complaints with police, spreading fake information, provoking the common people against their leaders, attacking the Community leaders and activists and weakening the democratic struggle and destroying the Chakma CSOs (Civil Society Organizations) by using the foreign funds received from International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) and other donors.
Suhas Chakma is not only spreading these propaganda and false and fabricated information against the Indian Chakmas, but he has also been spreading such false and fabricated information against the Jumma people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). For example, Suhas Chakma has been spreading false propaganda that members of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS) are involved in smuggling drugs, Burmese cigarettes, cows, and arms. This is a completely baseless and fabricated allegation. While the JSS has been conducting campaigns against the sale and consumption of alcohol in the villages of the CHT since its inception, there is no question of its involvement in smuggling any illegal goods including drugs. Suhas Chakma has been spreading such baseless propaganda against the JSS with the aim of destroying the image of the principles and ideology of the JSS.
Suhas Chakma claims to be a human rights defender, but in many cases of sexual assault, he has taken a stand for the accused rather than the victim. While he has advocated for women’s rights in the enactment of the Chakma Customary Law in Tripura, he has taken a stand for sexual assault in other cases.
For instances, Rup Singh Chakma’s father Surat Chand Chakma was arrested by Arunachal Pradesh Police for raping a physically disabled Chakma woman in the village on 25 October 2023. Still Suhas Chakma has not spoken a word against the rape offence, but has been relentlessly promoting and supporting Rup Singh’s father.
As per the complaint lodged at the Bordumsa police station by the victim’s brother, the accused entered into the house of the woman aged 43, who is deaf and dumb, when she was alone as all other family members had gone to the weekly market. Finding her all alone in the house, the accused forcefully raped her. After committing the crime, the accused tried to escape but he was caught by neighbours and handed over to police.
On 7 February 2023, one Santosh Baburah Chakma, a very close aide of Suhas Chakma, molested and tried to rape a Chakma woman from Mizoram. The incident took place in industrial city of Noida (Uttar Pradesh). The victim filed a police complaint in Noida sector 39 police station (FIR no. 99/2023). Santosh Chakma fled to escape arrest and took shelter in Suhas’ office in Janakpuri. Suhas Chakma openly defending the rape accused and provided lawyers to secure his bail. Now, the accused is facing prosecution under sections 354A, 354B Indian Penal Code and SC/ST Atrocities Act in the SC/ST Court in Noida. Instead of helping the victim, Suhas wholeheartedly supported the molester which is evident from his comments in social media.
Suhas Chakma used the Noida molestation case to target several Chakmas. He wanted to strike a compromise to save his man. It has been alleged that Suhas helped Santosh B. Chakma’s wife Rita Chakma who filed several false cases against many Chakmas. Rita used Suhas’ office address (i.e. C-3/441, Janakpuri, New Delhi) to file various false complaints which directly proves that Rita and Suhas are hand-in-gloves. For example, Rita filed a false complaint No. 31/2/4/2023 in the NHRC using Suhas’ office address, and the complaint was dismissed by National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Suhas Chakma more interested in division and chaos than constructive
Although Suhas Chakma claims to be a human rights defender and advocate for the Chakma community, but he has been shown to be more interested in creating division and conflict within the Chakma community rather than constructive work. He works to disrupt community organizations and institutions instead of resolving conflicts and building unity. Suhas Chakma has been creating division and chaos within the Chakma society across Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. He carries out all these activities to keep the society in disharmony so that he can receive more funds from outside by providing devastated situation of Chakmas.
Chakma National Council of India (CNCI) was formed in a conference held in 2016 in Guahati by the Chakmas living in India. Soon after its formation, in order to destroy the CNCI, the Chakmas of India assume that Suhas Chakma had organized a big conference at Guwahati in 2016 and formed a counter organization called “All India Chakma Social Forum (AICSF).” In that conference, he installed his own staff when Paritosh Chakma of Mizoram became president of AICSF. Using AICSF, Suhas and his present employees like Santosh Chakma, Tejang Chakma etc started targeting the leaders of CNCI by publishing long and nasty posts in social media every day. It is alleged that several fake IDs were created in the office of Suhas Chakma and un-relented personal attacks were launched against the CNCI leaders from his office. This went on for many years. Gradually, CNCI could not withstand the systematic and consistent attacks from foreign-funded Suhas Chakma and CNCI leaders and members got demotivated. Once CNCI was made inactive, AICSF was also shut down. Under CNCI, all political party leaders, social leaders and NGOs of Chakmas got united to work for the community and aroused Chakma nationalism, a great dream of Indian Chakmas which was destroyed by Suhas Chakma.
Similarly, after Joint Action Committee (JAC) was constituted in Arunachal Pradesh in 2021 by coming together of 8 community organizations, Suhas Chakma felt threatened by this unity. He launched counter-measure by forming Chakma Hajong Rights Alliance (CHRA). Arunachal Chakmas have alleged that Suhas has been funding the leaders who are opposed to JAC. Using CHRA he has been launching vicious attacks on the leaders of JAC including Subimal Bikash Chakma, Mahendra Chakma, Ajay Sen Chakma, Drishya Muni Chakma, Uttam Chakma etc. He called them “sarkari agents” (government agents), “Dalal” (broker), “jad drohis” (traitors of community), “corrupted neta”, chamchas of MLA, incompetent, “namak haram” and what not. He found spelling mistakes in the memorandum of JAC and faulted as prominent Supreme Court lawyer as Colin Gonsalves hired by JAC to fight the citizenship case and panchayat case in the Supreme Court! JAC also could not withstand the systematic and consistent attacks from foreign-funded Suhas Chakma and JAC leaders and cadres got demotivated. Now, it is almost dead.
Thirdly, the Chakmas of Tripura formed “Tripura Rejyo Chakma Samajik Parishad” (TRCSP) which has been accorded official recognition by the Tripura state government as custodian of the Chakma customary law and its president has been recognized as Chakma Samaj Pati (i.e. head of Chakma community). But in order to destroy this institution, Suhas Chakma has launched a campaign against the leaders of the TRCSP. For this, he weaponized the Chakma Customary Law, passed by the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council (TTADC) in Tripura. Suhas alleged that the customary law has several anti-women provisions. But Suhas launched personal attacks upon the leaders of TRCSP. On 31 December 2022, he accused them of turming the Chakmas into “Padha Sagols” (male goats). Though members of the TRCSP reiterated that the wrong provisions could be modified or altered later after the government approved the draft, but Suhas did not listen to it. He just went on with his dirty plan. Now the draft is defunct.
He tried his best to spread misinformation about the Chakma Customary Law. While he is himself supporting rape/molesters accused, he is showing as if he stands for women rights in the customary law. This is the height of hypocrisy.
“Chakma Reporter” Facebook channel has been launched from the office of Suhas Chakma in Janakpuri to carry out mispropaganda on daily basis. The chief editor of Chakma Reporter is Tejang Chakma who works with Suhas. Anyone who follows Suhas Chakma in Facebook must have seen him giving frequent interviews to Chakma Reporter regularly to criticize other Chakma community leaders.
On 17 September 2021, Suhas Chakma publicly announced in Facebook that he will not work with Subimal Bikash Chakma and his organization, Committee for Citizenship Rights of Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh (CCRCHAP) and asked Subimal to withdraw all files from Suhas office.
Since then, Suhas Chakma has been making personal attacks on Subimal Bikash Chakma, the senior most leader of the Chakma and Hajong communities of Arunachal Pradesh. Subimal has dedicated his entire life for the democratic struggle for citizenship of the Kaptai Dam displaced people who fled to India from East Pakistan during 1964-69 but have not been granted Indian citizenship. He is hugely respected among the Chakmas and other communities. Suhas has used unparliamentary words for Subimal – his decades old friend – like “Namak Haram” (traitor), “bastard” and vowed to “destroy him and his legacy”. This has caused serious mental harassment to the leader on sick bed who was just living on dialysis. A sympathy was meaningless to Suhas Chakma for his old friend who was fighting with death.
Suhas has also attempted a coup against Subimal by planting his staff Santosh Chakma (law officer of ACHR) to usurp the post of president of CCRCHAP by illegally removing Subimal. This led to division of the oldest organization into two factions as CCRCHAP (Subimal) and CCRCHAP (Santosh) factions. Most bizarre accusations have been broadcasted in “Chakma Reporter” which is edited by Tejang Chakma, the director of Indigenous Lawyers Association of India.
Suhas Chakma has been involved in creating division in Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students Union (APCSU) by creating a faction led by Rup Singh Chakma.
Disturbing communal harmony in Tripura
Suhas Chakma has been singularly responsible for creating rift between different communities, particularly between the Chakmas and Tripuris in Tripura and attempting to incite communal conflicts. In September 2021, Suhas Chakma-led Chakma Development Foundation of India (CDFI) mobilized five other lesser known Chakma NGOs of Tripura to submit a memorandum to then Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb demanding “state-wide inquiry against Bangladeshi foreigners in the State.”The memorandum particularly targeted the Tripuri tribal community stating that they were illegally migrating to Tripura from CHT.
The memorandum stated, “At least 860 families or approximately 8,600 people from 28 Tripuri villages under five Union Parishads (Tabalchari, Tendong, Barnala, Amtali, Belchari, and Gomti) in the Khagrachari district of Bangladesh have fled to Tripura and settled in various places such as East Sabroom, Silachari, Suknachari, Kaptala Para, Gorakappa, Ailmara and Karbook. Out of these 860 families, approximately 195 Tripuri families from Bangladesh settled in Balkhali, 135 in Manyakumar Para, 82 in Ranjit Para, and 52 in Katanchandra Roaza Para under Gomtibari”. The allegation by Suhas Chakma of influx of Tripuris from Bangladesh has created deep schism between the Chakmas and Tripuris. These NGOs are not the legitimate voice of the Chakmas of the state but the Tripuri community misunderstood the Chakmas who are residents of Tripura. An important point to be noted is that Suhas Chakma is purely a Bangladeshi national too.
On November 12-14, 2022, the Chakmas of India organized a “Chakma International Conference on Chakma Language, Scripts & Culture” which was held at Agartala (Tripura) where Chief Minister Manik Sah was invited to be the Chief Guest and Chakma Raja from CHT Devasish Roy was supposed to be the Guest of Honour. But Suhas Chakma conspired to create rift between the Chakmas and the Tripuris. He connived with the TIPRA Motha by inviting the Chakma Raja to attend a political programme of TIPRA Motha ahead of the Chakma conference. His conspiracy was to showcase the Chakma Raja as a supporter of TIPRA MOTHA and its chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma. But Suhas’ conspiracy failed because the Chakma conference organizers advised the Chakma Raja not to attend any political party function as it may create conflict with the ruling BJP Government and division of Chakmas along party lines. In order to salvage his reputation and relations in India, the Chakma Raja decided not to go to India. This episode further divided the Chakmas and Tripuris on communal lines.
