Interview with Mrinal Kanti Tripura

Mrinal Kanti Tripura I was born in 1965 in a remote village of Khagrachari Hill District, Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region, the southeastern part of Bangladesh. We are nine (9) brothers and sisters. I belong to Tripura (Borok) Indigenous People, one of the eleven indigenous groups commonly known as Jumma inhabiting in CHT region since time immemorial. I had my primary education in my village school and later went to high school at district headquarters. I studied in a college in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and finally I graduated in B. Sc. Engineering (Mechanical) from Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT). After that I joined the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), the political party of indigenous Jumma People, which was established in 1972 and struggling for the establishment of Indigenous Peoples rights to self-determination, in 1994 and still involved in the party activities as the Assistant Secretary of Information and Publicity Department.  Since 1999, I have been involved in activities for promoting and protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at international level. At present I am more involved in activities of Training and Education on Indigenous Peoples rights and Human rights in general.