Chakma Raja: A Buddhist King in Pakistan

In September 1972, the United Nations General Assembly was discussing Bangladesh’s application for membership to the organisation. To oppose this, Pakistan sent a special 21-member delegation to New York. The head of the delegation, Raja Tridev Roy, was a man with the most fascinating background. He was a Buddhist King of the Chakma tribe, who had given up his throne and his people, for Pakistan.

Even more interestingly, opposing him was his very own mother, Rajmata Benita Roy, who was heading the Bangladeshi delegation!