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{{Infobox royalty
| title = [[Raja]]
| name = Tridev Roy<br>𑄖𑄳𑄢𑄨𑄘𑄨𑄝𑄴 𑄢𑄧𑄠𑄴
| image =
| caption =
| succession = [[Raja|Chief]] of the [[Chakma Circle]]
| moretext =
| reign = 2 May 1953 - 1971
| reign-type =
| coronation =
| cor-type =
| predecessor = [[Nalinaksha Roy]]
| pre-type =
| successor = [[Devasish Roy]]
| suc-type =
| regent =
| reg-type =
| birth_date = 14 May 1933
| birth_place = [[Rangamati District]], [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|09|17|1933|05|14|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Islamabad]], [[Pakistan]]
| father = Nalinaksha Roy
| mother = [[Benita Roy]]
| occupation = Writer
}}
'''Raja Tridiv Roy''' ({{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|راجہ تری دیو رائے}}}}; {{lang-bn|ত্রিদিব রায়}}; [[𑄌𑄋𑄴𑄟𑄳𑄦]]: 𑄖𑄳𑄢𑄨𑄘𑄨𑄝𑄴 𑄢𑄧𑄠𑄴; sometimes spelled '''Tridev Roy''', (14 May 1933 – 17 September 2012) was a Pakistani politician, diplomat and writer who was the Minister of the Minority Affairs in [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] cabinet. He was also the 50th [[Raja]] of the [[Chakma people|Chakma]] tribe in the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]] region of present-day [[Bangladesh]] from 2 May 1953, until his [[abdication]] in 1971 following the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].<ref name="mg">[http://www.modernghana.com/blogs/268394/31/hindus-contribution-towards-making-of-pakistan.html Hindus Contribution Towards Making Of Pakistan] Retrieved 28 January 2011</ref><ref name=dstar>{{cite news |title=Tridiv Roy passes away |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=250386|work=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)]] |date=18 September 2012 |access-date=2012-10-19}}</ref> He chose to remain a Pakistani when Bangladesh achieved independence in 1971.<ref>{{cite book|title=Genesis of Indigenous Chakma Buddhists and Their Pulverization Worldwide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RGHfVGV5A5wC&q=pakistan+chakma&pg=PA110|year=2010|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|isbn=978-81-7835-758-4|pages=110–}}</ref> He became known as a writer, diplomat, [[Buddhist]] religious leader and politician in Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/chittagongs-former-chakma-raja-who-left-bangladesh-to-live-in-pak-4851886/|title=Chittagong's former Chakma raja who left Bangladesh to live in Pakistan}}</ref><ref name="mg"/>

Between 1981 and 1995, he served as Ambassador of Pakistan to [[Argentina]] with concurrent accreditation in [[Chile]], [[Uruguay]], [[Peru]] and [[Ecuador]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Hyatt |first=Ishrat |date=18 September 2012 |title=Eulogy for a friend |url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-132535-Eulogy-for-a-friend |work=[[The News International]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416084545/http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-132535-Eulogy-for-a-friend |archive-date=16 April 2013 |access-date=30 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was also a Minister-For-Life within the Pakistani government.<ref name=etribune/> Tridev Roy died in September 2012.<ref name=etribune/><ref name=dawn>{{cite news |title=Raja Tridiv Roy dies |url=http://dawn.com/2012/09/18/raja-tridiv-roy-dies/ |work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]] |date=18 September 2012 |access-date=2012-10-19}}</ref>

==Biography==

Roy was born in 1933 in [[Rajbari District|Rajbari]], [[Rangamati]], [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]], [[British India]].<ref name=etribune/> He was the son of Raja Nalinaksha Roy.<ref name=dstar/> His mother Benita Roy was the grand daughter of Keshab Chandra Sen, a leading nineteenth century Brahmo Samaj leader and reformer of Bengal. Leading actress and danseuse Sadhana Bose and classical singer Naina Devi were his maternal aunts.

He was installed as the 50th [[Raja]], or hereditary [[King of the Chakma Circle]], on 2 May 1953.<ref name=dstar/><ref name=etribune/> Roy abdicated the throne 1971 in favour of his son, [[Raja Devasish Roy]], the current ruler of the [[Chakma people]], during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].<ref name=dstar/><ref name=etribune/> Roy remained a practicing [[Buddhist]], the predominant faith of the Chakma people, throughout his life.<ref name=etribune/>

Despite being heavily non-Muslim, the Chittagong Hill Tracts were awarded to Pakistan (specifically [[East Pakistan]]) by the British during the 1947 [[partition of India]].<ref name=etribune/> The Chakmas and other people of the hill tracts had favored union with India instead of Pakistan.<ref name=etribune/> Initially granted special autonomy, the status of the region was changed by the Pakistani government during the 1950s to allow the settlement of large numbers of largely non-indigenous, Muslim Bengali settlers into the region.<ref name=etribune/> The Pakistani government also opened a hydro-electric dam, the [[Kaptai Dam]] in the early 1960s, which flooded about 40% of the Chakmas' available [[arable land]].<ref name=etribune/> However, the Chakmas under Tridev Roy chose to remain neutral during the 1960s and 1970s as relations between the Pakistani Army and [[Mukti Bahini]], which fought for Bangladeshi independence.<ref name=etribune/>

In 1970, [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]], the head of the [[Awami League]] and future founder of Bangladesh, asked Roy to run for Parliament as a member of the Awami League.<ref name=etribune/> Roy declined Rahman's offering, choosing instead to run in the [[Politics of Bangladesh#General Election, 1970|1970 general election]] as an independent.<ref name=etribune/> Roy won his election as independent candidate from his constituency in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.<ref name=etribune/>

Roy sided with [[Pakistan]] in 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], which resulted in Bangladesh's independence.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Shaheen Sardar Ali |author2=Javaid Rehman |year=2001 |title=Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities of Pakistan: Constitutional and Legal Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFn-DAa_iVEC&pg=PA34 |publisher=Psychology Press |page=34 |isbn=978-0-7007-1159-8}}</ref> Following the war and Bangladesh's independence, Roy chose to move from the former [[East Pakistan]] to [[West Pakistan]], where he resided for the rest of his life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mshel.com/book00022.html |title=Books |website=Mshel.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714123320/http://www.mshel.com/book00022.html |archive-date=14 July 2011 |access-date=20 January 2022}}</ref> Roy feared political persecution if he remained in Bangladesh after the country's independence, which led to his decision to move to Pakistan.<ref name=etribune/> He also felt that the new Bangladeshi government would no longer guarantee the special autonomous status of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.<ref name=etribune/> He abdicated as the Raja of the Chakmas in 1971 in favor of his son, [[Raja Debashish Roy]], when he went into exile.<ref name=etribune/> The government of Pakistan made Roy a lifetime federal minister for his loyalty to the government in Islamabad during the war.<ref name=dawn/>

Roy headed a delegation from Pakistan to oppose Bangladesh's application to join the United Nations.<ref name=dawn/> The government of Bangladesh, under Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, sent its own delegation to New York to apply for admission led by Tridev Roy's mother [[Benita Roy|Rajmata Benita Roy]].<ref name=dawn/>

Roy joined the government of [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] during the 1970s.<ref name=etribune/> Bhutto offered Roy the position of [[President of Pakistan]] once he became [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]].<ref name=etribune/> However, Roy declined Bhutto's offer of the presidency because, under the new [[Constitution of Pakistan]] of 1973, only Muslims can become President of Pakistan.<ref name=etribune/> Roy, who called the presidency a "gilded cage," was unwilling to convert from Buddhism to Islam to hold the office.<ref name=etribune/> Bhutto was later [[Operation Fair Play|overthrown]] by General [[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq]] in 1977.

In 1981, Roy was appointed as Pakistani Ambassador to [[Argentina]] by the Zia government, a move which simultaneously removed him from day-to-day involvement in Pakistani politics.<ref name=etribune/> He was simultaneously accredited as an ambassador in Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay and he held these positions until 1995. He later was Pakistan's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka.<ref name=dawn/> He remained abroad to abroad until 1996, when he returned to [[Islamabad]].<ref name=etribune/> Roy also held the position as a federal minister-for-life within the Pakistani government.<ref name=etribune/>

Roy, a leading figure in Pakistan's Buddhist community, headed the Pakistan Buddhist Society from 1996 until his death in 2012.<ref name=etribune/> In 2005, the [[High Commissioner]] of [[Sri Lanka]], General Srilal Weerasooriya, on behalf of the [[President of Sri Lanka|President]], conferred the emblems of the [[Sri Lanka Ranjana]] Award on Federal Minister Tridev Roy for his work on behalf of Pakistan's Buddhist community.<ref name=dawn/>

Tridiv Roy died from cardiac arrest at his home in [[Islamabad]] on 17 September 2012, at the age of 79.<ref name=dawn/> He is survived by his wife, Arati Roy, three sons, and two daughters.<ref name=dstar/>

==Legacy==

The ''[[Express Tribune]]'' published an editorial the day following his death titled "The Raja who gave away his kingdom" on the diplomat's political career, excerpts of which are below:<ref name=etribune>{{cite news |title=The Raja who gave away his kingdom |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/438375/the-raja-who-gave-away-his-kingdom/|work=[[The Express Tribune]] |date=18 September 2012 |access-date=2012-10-18}}</ref>

{{quote|Raja Tridiv Roy, minister-for-life, former government adviser, envoy and chief of the Chakma Tribals, died in Islamabad on Monday. He was 79. The late Raja Roy will be remembered as the man who gave away his kingdom so that he could be with Pakistan during one of the country's most turbulent periods...

A Buddhist by faith, Raja Tridiv Roy, left [[East Pakistan]] and came and joined the government of then president of Pakistan [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] in the seventies. This despite the fact that he won the elections in 1971 as an independent candidate from his constituency.
Roy's other distinction was that at one point he was also offered the position of [[President of Pakistan]] by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who himself had assumed the prime ministership of the country...

When Bhutto was deposed in 1977, Raja Tridiv Roy was carted off in 1981 on an ambassadorship to far away Argentina. He returned to Islamabad in 1996. After that, he was head of the Pakistan Buddhist Society.}}

==Books==

Among his books, Tridiv Roy published his memoirs entitled, ''The Departed Melody''. The book begins with the history and culture of the people of the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts]] and the Chakma Rajas. His other books and publications include ''Collection of Short Stories'', which was translated to Urdu, and ''South American Diary''.<ref name=dawn/>

== See also ==
*[[Devasish Roy]]
*[[Chandra Kalindi Roy Henriksen]]
*[[Chakma people]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Socialism in Pakistan}}
{{Government of Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Raja Tridev}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Buddhist religious leaders]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi Buddhists]]
[[Category:Theravada Buddhists]]
[[Category:Chakma people]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Argentina]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Chile]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Uruguay]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Peru]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Ecuador]]
[[Category:High Commissioners of Pakistan to Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Monarchs who abdicated]]
[[Category:Government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]]
[[Category:Pakistani Buddhists]]
[[Category:Pakistani people of Bangladeshi descent]]
[[Category:Pakistani writers]]
[[Category:People from Chittagong]]
[[Category:People from Islamabad]]
[[Category:People of the Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:Chakma Royal Family]]
[[Category:Sri Lanka Ranajana]]
[[Category:Federal ministers of Pakistan]]

Tridev Roy - Revision history

Bot at 10:36, 10 July 2022

Bot at 10:36, 10 July 2022