Khagrachari Correspondent, CHT News
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Three UPDF-affiliated organizations staged a demonstration and burned an effigy of Dr. Yunus in Khagrachari in protest against an armed attack by government-backed vigilantes on a rally organized by the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) on August 05 marking the first anniversary of the fall of fascist Hasina regime.
On Sunday morning (August 10, 2025) at 10 AM, a protest was held jointly by the Hill Students’ Council (PCP), Hill Women’s Federation, and Democratic Youth Forum – all Khagrachari district branches – under the slogan: “Resist Yunus’s Fascism, Establish Full Autonomy.”
Starting from the District Council area, the protesters marched to Swarnivor Bazaar intersection, where they held a brief rally and burned an effigy of Dr. Yunus, the Chief Adviser of the interim government.
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| An effigy of Dr. Yunus was burnred. |
Speakers at the rally included Anti Chakma, convener of the Hill Women’s Federation Khagrachari district branch, and Trishnankar Chakma, general secretary of the Hill Students’ Council, Khagrachari district.
Anti Chakma stated that on August 5, during a peaceful UPDF rally at Chengi Square commemorating one year since the fall of the fascist Hasina regime, government-deployed goons opened fire, injuring an elderly woman. Police stood by and watched, and an army brigade was stationed just a few yards away, she said.
She recalled that on August 18, 2018, during Hasina’s rule, seven people—including student leaders Tapon, Elton, and youth leader Palash Chakma—were shot dead in broad daylight at Swarnivor Bazaar in front of BGB Sector HQ and a police outpost. No justice has been served for that massacre.
She added that repeated violent attacks, shootings, and killings during peaceful democratic assemblies cannot be ignored by the government. She held the interim government responsible for the August 5 shooting, accusing Dr. Yunus of maintaining the same repressive policies in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) as the previous Hasina regime.
She further said: “Those who label the CHT people as separatists and try to isolate them are actually obstacles to a democratic transformation of Bangladesh. The CHT issue is a national issue, and it must be resolved as such. The military rule in the hills must be withdrawn, and full autonomy must be granted as a political solution.”
She demanded the immediate arrest and punishment of
the goons involved in the August 5 attack.
Student leader Trishnankar Chakma said that following the July 2024 popular uprising, Dr. Yunus became the head of the interim government. ‘However, the repression, torture, and military dominance in the hills from Hasina’s regime continue under Yunus’s rule. The attack on the UPDF rally on August 5 at Chengi Square is a continuation of that repression.’
He also alleged that under the guise of "searching for terrorists," security forces continue to raid Jumma homes in the hills during both day and night, engaging in harassment, looting, and rape.
‘Despite the hopes of many, including the hill people, during the July uprising for a more inclusive and discrimination-free Bangladesh—where their identity and rights would be recognized—nothing has changed after one year’ he said, and added that instead, Dr. Yunus has betrayed the blood of those martyred and injured in the uprising.
Trishnankar demanded the identification and legal action against those responsible for the August 5 attack in Chengi.
After the rally, an effigy of Dr. Yunus was burnred.
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| After the rally, an effigy of Dr. Yunus was burnred. |
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