Manabendra Narayan Larma

Manabendra Narayan Larma (15 September 1939 – 10 November 1983; also known by his initials M.N. Larma) was a Bangladeshi politician and member of parliament. A leading proponent of the rights of the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, he was the founding leader of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (United People's Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts) and its armed wing, the Shanti Bahini.

Early life

Manabendra Narayan Larma was born on 15 September 1939, at Maorum (Mahapuram) village, which is now drowned under the Kaptai Lake of Kaptai Dam. He belonged to the Chakma tribe, which inhabits in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and the neighbouring Indian states of Mizoram and Tripura. He graduated in 1963 from the Government College in Chittagong, completed his Bachelor of Education degree in 1968 from the Comilla Teachers' Training College and law degree in 1970 from the Chittagong Law College. Larma began working as a lawyer in the Chittagong District of East Pakistan. Larma continued to fight for the rights of the indigenous people and is quoted as saying:

Shanti Bahini

On 15 February 1972, Larma founded the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), seeking to build an organisation representing all the Jumma Peoples of the Hill Tracts. Larma was elected to the Jatiya Sangsad, the national legislature of Bangladesh as candidate of the PCJSS in 1973. Being the main leader of the PCJSS and the Shanti Bahini, Larma consequently went underground, into hiding from state security forces. However, factionalism within the PCJSS weakened Larma's standing and he was assassinated on 10 November 1983.