Devasish Roy (also spelled Debashish Roy; born 9 April 1959) is a Bangladeshi politician and lawyer. He is the

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

of the Chakma Circle,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

's largest indigenous community, and was a member of the

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII or PFII) is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. There are more than 370 million indigenous peop ...

from 2014 to 2016.

Career

Born in a Chakma family, Roy is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

by profession and served as a Special Assistant to the

Chief Advisor of Bangladesh The Chief Adviser was the head of the Caretaker Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh who served as the Head of Government for 90 days during transition between one elected government to another during the term of the caretaker gove ...

(head of the

Caretaker Government of Bangladesh The Caretaker Government of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের তত্ত্বাবধায়ক সরকার) was a form of government in which Bangladesh used to be ruled by a selected government for an interim period du ...

) during the 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis. He was in charge of the

Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs The Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs ( bn, পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম বিষয়ক মন্ত্রণালয়; ''Pārbatya caṭṭagrāma biṣaẏaka mantraṇālaẏa'') is the government minist ...

and the Ministry of Forest and Environment. Roy became King of the Chakma Circle after his father

Tridev Roy Raja Tridiv Roy ( ur, ; bn, ত্রিদিব রায়; 𑄌𑄋𑄴𑄟𑄳𑄦: 𑄖𑄳𑄢𑄨𑄘𑄨𑄝𑄴 𑄢𑄧𑄠𑄴; sometimes spelled Tridev Roy, (14 May 1933 – 17 September 2012) was a Pakistani politician, diplomat ...

went into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

following the independence of Bangladesh from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 1971. In the 1970 general election Raja Tridev Roy had been elected to the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

as one of the only two non-

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

candidates from

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

. The former Raja who opposed the independence of Bangladesh fled

Rangamati Rangamati (Bengali: রাঙ্গামাটি;) is the administrative headquarter and town of Rangamati Hill District in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The town is located at 22°37'60N 92°12'0E and has an altitude of . The distr ...

and escaped to Pakistan at the end of the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

. However most of the royal family, including the Rani and Yuvraj, were still left at the Rangamati Palace. After the emergence of Bangladesh, Yuvraj Devasish Roy was proclaimed Raja due to the absence of his father.

Personal life

Roy was married to Tatu Roy until her death in 1998. The couple have two children, a son, Tribhuvan Aryadev Roy, and a daughter. On 4 July 2014, he married Yan Yan, an ethnic Rakhine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Devasish Bangladeshi politicians Theravada Buddhists Bangladeshi Buddhists Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict Chakma people Living people 1959 births Chakma Royal Family Bangladeshi barristers 20th-century Bangladeshi lawyers 21st-century Bangladeshi lawyers People from Rangamati District Advisors of Caretaker Government of Bangladesh