Moni Swapan Dewan Explained

Moni Swapan Dewan
Native Name Lang:ccp
Office:Deputy Minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs
Primeminister:Khaleda Zia
Term Start:10 October 2001
Term End:29 October 2006
Successor:Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
Predecessor:Post created
Office1:Member of Parliament
Constituency1:Rangamati
Predecessor1:Dipankar Talukdar[1]
Successor1:Dipankar Talukdar[2]
Party:Bangladesh Nationalist Party
Birth Date:1954 5, df=yes
Birth Place:Rangamati, East Bengal, Pakistan
Term Start1:1 October 2001
Term End1:29 October 2006
Nationality:Bangladeshi
Residence:Rangamati

Moni Swapan Dewan (born 18 May 1954) alias Major Rajesh is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician, ethnic Chakma, and a former member of parliament from the Chittagong Hill Tracts.[3] [4] He is also the former deputy minister for Hill Tracts Affairs.[5]

He started his career as a guerilla leader for the Shanti Bahini, the armed wing of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti.

Career

Moni Swapan was a member of the Shanti Bahini during the Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict and was known as Major Rajesh. He is accused of committing a massacre of settler Bengalis in the Rangamati district in 1984.[6] [7]

Dewan denies the charges.

Moni Swapan Dewan was appointed the deputy minister of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs in the 2001 to 2006 Bangladesh Nationalist Party government.[8] He called for the recognition of ethnic minority in the constitution of Bangladesh in 2006.[9]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: List of 7th Parliament Members . Bangladesh Parliament . https://web.archive.org/web/20140203052355/http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-7th-parliament-members-bangla . 3 February 2014.
  2. Web site: List of 9th Parliament Members . Bangladesh Parliament . https://web.archive.org/web/20190327222845/http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-9th-parliament-members-bangla . 27 March 2019.
  3. Book: Mohsin, Amena . 2003 . The Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: On the Difficult Road to Peace . Lynne Rienner Publishers . 119 . 978-1-58826-138-0.
  4. News: Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Makes Way to Khaleda's Cabinet . Xinhua News Agency . 10 October 2001 . 2023-03-15 . Two out of six members of the minority community elected in the eighth parliament also made their way into the cabinet ... Moni swapan dewan, a buddhist from Southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts was inducted as deputy minister.
  5. News: Doubts over Bangladesh rebel accord . BBC News . 2017-05-15.
  6. Web site: Bhushanchhara genocide in Rangamati: No trial in 37yrs - City News . 2023-04-20 . The Daily Observer.
  7. News: Horror still haunts survivors . 2023-04-20 . Daily Sun . en.
  8. Book: Mohsin, Amena . 2003 . The Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: On the Difficult Road to Peace . Lynne Rienner Publishers . 120 . 978-1-58826-138-0.
  9. News: Moni Swapan demands amendment of constitution to recognise linguistic minorities . bdnews24.com . 27 June 2006 . 2017-05-15.