Milestone Tragedy: Bandarban student Ukya Ching Marma who aspired to be an army officer, killed

Ukya Ching Marma, a student from Bandarban, had dreamt of becoming an army officer. He believed in doing good and serving his country. He even took part in the cadet admission examination. That dream is now gone forever.

Ukya suffered grievous injuries when a training aircraft of the Bangladesh Air Force crashed into the Milestone School and College premises in Uttara on Monday (21 July).

At around 2:30am on Tuesday (22 July), he passed away while receiving treatment in the Burn and Plastic Surgery Intensive Care Unit at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, according to his aunt Meme Sain Marma.

She told The Business Standard that upon hearing news of the plane crash, Ukya's parents rushed from Bandarban to Dhaka. They reached Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 10pm on Monday (21 July).

"They were able to stand beside their son one last time. But before their eyes, the light of their only child's dream slowly faded," she said.

Ukya was a seventh-grade student in the English version of Milestone School and College in the capital. His father, Usai Mong Marma, teaches at Rajsthali Tribal Residential High School under the Chattogram Hill Tracts Development Board. His mother, Dejipru Marma, teaches at Kaktai Para Government Primary School in Ruma, Bandarban. He was their only child.

His uncle, Thuisaching Marma, an officer at the Hill Tracts Development Board, said, "Ukya took the cadet exam this year with the ambition to become an army officer. He was bright since childhood and studied in English. For his studies, he was admitted to Bandarban Cantonment Public School and College, and the family rented a house in the Balaghata area of Bandarban Sadar. The rented house still exists."

Later, in pursuit of higher education, his parents brought him to Dhaka. He was enrolled in the English version of Milestone School and College in Uttara in seventh grade. Now the accident has taken their only son and left the parents in shock.

Ukya's ancestral home is in the Bangal Halia area of Rajsthali upazila, Rangamati, about 25 kilometers from Bandarban town along the Bandarban–Rangamati road.

Thuisaching Marma told The Business Standard yesterday afternoon (23 July) that the body was being brought from Dhaka and was expected to arrive within an hour. It will be kept at Khyangdong Para in Bangal Halia.

His funeral will take place today (23 July) at 2pm at the central Marma graveyard in Headman Para.

News of his death sent a wave of mourning across Bandarban and the wider Chattogram Hill Tracts. Local schools, classmates, teachers, cultural activists and people from all walks of life expressed their grief and extended condolences to his family. Social media was also flooded with messages of sorrow and tributes to the young student.