Agartala, March 11: Santana Chakma has scripted history by getting inducted as the first female Chakma Cabinet Minister in Tripura. Santana has been made the Cabinet Minister for Social Welfare & Social Education and Animal Resource Development in the first BJP-IPFT government led by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.
The news spread like wildfire and Chakma settlements across Tripura broke into impromptu celebrations with elders saying they wish the new minister the very best as she embarks on a new journey.
The name ‘Chakma’ was coined by one of the Burmese kings during the Bagan era. Burmese kings hired Chakmas as ministers, advisers and translators of Buddhist Pali texts.
Some of the Chakmas and Hajongs living, mostly from Mizoram, live in relief camps in southern Tripura due to tribal conflict with Mizos.
Source: Dipankar Das, TIME8.IN