Raja Tridev Roy
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Raja Tridev Roy a former raja of chakma tribes in Bangladesh,is a Pakistani writer, religious leader and politician. He is a federal minister for life. He lives in Islamabad and leads the Buddhist community of the country. more details about personal life and family of Raja Tridev Roy can be found in a memoirs titled "Jaanbaz" written by late Syed Saleem Abbas, a personal friend of Raja Tridev Roy, who was sent to Bangladesh by Raja in the mid 1970s to bring Raja's wife and young son back to Pakistan. Raja Tridev Roy also served as Pakistan's ambassador to Mexico. The high commissioner of Sri Lanka, General Srilal Weerasooriya has conferred the emblems of the Sri Lankan Ranjana National Award conferred on Federal Minister Raja Tridev Roy.
His second book under review, titled ‘Janbaz’, is the narration of his encounters with enemy agents in Bangkok, Vietnam, Burma, Saudi-Arabia and Iran. Basically, the story of ‘Janbaz’ relates to a mission in which the author was requested by his friend Raja Tridev Roy (Raja Tridev Roy was the head of the Chakma tribe in the hill tracts of Chittagong, to bring back his wife and two sons to Pakistan from Ravgamati. Here, it may be mentioned that with the fall of East Pakistan, Raja Tridev Roy who was a staunch Pakistani, did not recognise the Bangladesh government and leaving behind his wife and children, he escaped to Pakistan. He was a great friend of the then prime minister of Pakistan, Z.A. Bhutto, so when he requested the author to bring his family members from Ravgamati, it had the tacit approval of the prime minister as well.
Salim Abbas (it was the real name of the author who died recently at Karachi and was buried at the military graveyard, Malir Cantt), who was a very close friend of the Raja, and in a way indebted to him for his help and support during his stay at Chittangang, could not let go the opportunity to repay his favours.
As Salim had been to the Rajah’s palace at Ravgamati and was also acquainted with his family members, he could have no difficulty in delivering the Raja’s message to them. Accordingly, the Raja financed the trip for Bangladesh, but as he was on the ‘most wanted’ list in India, he could not have gone to Bangladesh via India, and the political situation of Bangladesh was also not congenial because of the tremendous Indian influence over it at the time, and above 90 thousand Pakistanis (civil and military) were held up as POWs in Indian jails. So the only way open to Salim to enter Chittagong was through the Burma border.
This trip was not government sponsored, and it was to be regarded for all practical purposes as a private mission. Salim was flown to Bangkok, where he was to meet some underworld activists, closely allied to the Bombay network, whose heads were on very intimate terms with him, and it was their influence which opened the way of further incursions through the Vietnam borders to northern Burma where virtually Khun-sa, the Burmese leader of the underworld force ruled.
Undertaking all sorts of treacherous routes, Salim finally succeeded in crossing the Burma border and entered Bangladesh through its eastern border. He went to the Raja’s palace at Ravgamati and delivered the letter to his wife and sons, but here a new situation had developed during the absence of Raja Tridev Roy; his elder son had become the rajah and did not want to join his father in Pakistan. He openly revolted against the scheme and Salim had to be content with taking back with him only the wife, the younger son and daughter of the rajah with him. He was assisted in his mission by some of his old associates of Delhi.
