The ‘Boisabi’ festival has taken place in Dhaka, to welcome the new year and say goodbye to the outgoing year. The number of ethnic minority communities in the hills is 13. The term ‘Boisabi’ is a combination of the initials of the names of new year festivals of three communities – Chakma, Marma, and Tripura. The Tripuras term their new year festival as ‘Boisuk’, while the Marmas as ‘Sangrai’ and the Chakmas as ‘Biju’.
However, people of other ethnicities also hold this festival, though in different names, like Bishu, Bihu, Sangkrayan.
Today, Friday, is marked as ‘Phool Biju’ by the Chakmas, while the Tripuras term it as ‘Hari Baisuk’. On this occasion, the Tripuras, especially children, teens, and women, float flowers and lamps in the river and pray for the blessings of Goddess Ganga. They believe that it will remove evil and eliminate old diseases. The Chakmas also believe and pray the same.
Now, many hill people cannot leave the capital and go home, in the reality of urban life. For them, on the first day of the Boisabi festival, the Chittagong Hill Tracts affairs ministry held a colourful procession from the Chittagong Hill Tracts complex on Bailey Road in Dhaka to Ramna Lake, in participation with the hill people and the Bangalis from the three hill districts.
Later, the Boisabi festival was celebrated by floating flowers in the water of Ramna Lake. Moshiur Rahman, secretary of the ministry, chaired the programme.
Suvra Kanti Das from Prothom Alo attended the programme and took these pictures.