Chakma: Open letter

20/12/2009 An open letter written by Chakma students at Alice Project, Bodhgaya.

“My name is Suchandra, I am a 16-year-old Chakma boy. I have two sisters and two brothers. My village is located in the North East state of Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Me and my brothers and sisters

“There are about sixty families living in my village and all are farmers.  In the past my ancestors lived in Bangladesh, which was then a part of India. But 50 years ago the country became Muslim and was no longer part of India. My family, along with a thousand other families, were persecuted due to our Buddhist religion so we fled to India. My grandfather told me that the Chakma are one of the oldest ethnic Buddhist groups. He said: “We descend directly from Buddha’s Sakhya clan. You, po (son), must be proud to be a Chakma!” But today it is difficult for me to feel proud. We are like strangers in India, not one of my family members has Indian citizenship even though we were born here. We cannot open a bank account; we cannot visit foreign countries; we cannot get a driving license; we cannot register land in own name. The Indian government gave us land in the forest, yet we have to struggle to protect our fields from floods and other natural calamities.

My Grandparents

The nearest city is 55 kilometers away from our village, however there are no roads. We have to walk for almost two days to reach a doctor or to buy medicine. Our teacher’s wife arrived too late to the hospital to have her infected finger looked after by a doctor, so the only solution was to amputate. There is no electricity in my village. There is a small primary school run by volunteers, but we have to travel for many kilometers to attend governmental junior and senior high schools. That’s why many Chakma children are spread all over India. It is the only way to get an education offered by Indian or foreign Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). Many times when the senior Chakma students return after being away at schools for so long, they are like strangers. They seem to have forgotten us, our roots, religion and traditions.

My classmates at Alice Project, Bodhgaya

That’s why my parents asked Valentino, the founder and director of a progressive school in Sarnath, Bodhgaya and Arunachal Pradesh, to accept me and other village children into one of the Alice Project schools. Here the Chakmas get a modern education while we are allowed to practice and learn Buddhist philosophy and dharma. Unfortunately Valentino had to closed the school in Bodhgaya this year due to the lack of donations. Forty Chakma and 250 local children were sent home. We begged Valentino again and again to reopen the school. Finally, he agreed with the words: ‘Let’s challenge our destiny!’ Before leaving my village I went to our priests and local shaman to receive their blessing and ask their prayers for my future, and for the future of every Alice Project student.

The shaman of our village. He is able to cure people with the power of mantra.

Since December 18, 2009 we are back at the school in the Barbatta-Dandawa village, eight kilometers outside Bodhgaya. We are a group of 27 Chakma boys in Class Nine (9th grade) studying and living – free of cost – at the school. We will remain here until our graduation. The school is recognized by Indian Government from class nine to Degree College. We have promised the Alice Project to study hard and to return to our villages after graduating to help our people lead a better life and to give the Chakma children an education based on our traditions and dharma.

This letter is to invite tourists, monks and dharma students visiting Bodhgaya to help us to preserve our Buddhist culture and religion by visiting our school at Barbatta-Dandawa village. I hope this letter will compel you to visit our school and/or our website www.aliceproject.org and see that it is a worthwhile project. Please donate whatever you can to help us to fulfill our dream.

His Holiness with Alice Project, Universal Education School students at Sarnath, India

“We are meeting the little students who have the light of self confidence and assurance in their eyes. I am really very happy to see this!” -H.H. Dali Lama

H.H. Karmapa visits Alice Project

You can help us by

1. Sponsoring  a student.

2. Sponsoring the ongoing construction of the hostel.

3. Giving any kind of donation (food, clothes, books…)

Our Bank: Awakening Special Universal Education – Bank of India – Bodhgaya, Gaya – Bihar – Swift Code – BKIDINBBCOS – Fcra – BKID0004479 –

A.N. 44792010000000010

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