Bangladesh is home to more than 54 indigenous peoples speaking more than 35 languages. Bangladesh has not adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the economic and political rights of the country's indigenous peoples remain ignored.
Bangladesh is home to more than 54 Indigenous Peoples who speak at least 35 languages, along with the majority of the Bengali population. Bangladesh has not adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the economic and political rights of the country's Indigenous Peoples continue to be ignored.
The government of Bangladesh does not recognize Indigenous Peoples as indigenous. However, since the amendment of the 2011 Constitution, peoples with different ethnic identities than the Bengali population are mentioned. However, only cultural aspects are mentioned, while issues related to the economic and political rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular their rights to land, continue to be ignored.
Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh
According to the 2011 census conducted by the Government of Bangladesh, the country's Indigenous population comprises approximately 1,586,141, 1.8% of the country's total population. However, Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh claim that their population is approximately 5 million.
Approximately 80% of the Indigenous Population lives in the flatland districts of the north and southeast of the country, while the rest reside in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Indigenous Peoples are commonly known as Jummas for their crop rotation agriculture, known locally as Jum.
Along with the official language of Bengali, the Indigenous Peoples of Bangladesh speak at least 35 languages. Measures have been taken to include teachers from Indigenous groups and texts in Indigenous languages at the pre-primary school, and the government has distributed books for the nursery school in five Indigenous languages, namely Chakma, Garo, Kokborok, Marma and Sadri.
However, the government has not yet taken any action to train an adequate number of qualified teachers with the necessary linguistic skills in these languages and has not yet presented a plan for native education in the later stages for the pre-primary level, nor for other Indigenous languages.
Main challenges for the Indigenous Peoples of Bangladesh
The land rights of Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh continue to be one of the alarming issues and a key factor in serious human rights violations in the country. Indigenous Peoples' organizations have protested against the growing number of human rights violations and demand protection, promotion and respect for their human rights.
Although the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Agreement was a constructive agreement between the Indigenous Peoples and the Government of Bangladesh, after 19 years, the main problems of the Agreement remain unresolved. Indigenous Peoples still face challenges in areas such as the return of power and functions to the Chittagong Hill Tracts institutions, the preservation of the characteristics of the tribal area of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, the demilitarization and rehabilitation of the internally displaced.
The situation of Indigenous women continues to be alarming. Sexual and physical attacks have become a common means of being used against Indigenous women and girls, while none of the alleged perpetrators have been brought to justice. In 2016, Bangladesh was revised by the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The concluding observations highlight that the government should: "effectively investigate all reports of gender-based violence against indigenous women related to land grabbing and take steps to bring those responsible to justice." In 2017, at least 56 Indigenous women and girls were sexually assaulted
Advances in land disputes and education for Indigenous groups in Bangladesh
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act of 2001 was amended in August 2016. The amendment is expected to pave the way for the proper resolution of land disputes and the return of dispossessed lands belonging to native populance.
The Government of Bangladesh undertook initiatives to fulfill its responsibility to ensure primary education for indigenous children, including a measure in 2017 to nationalize 210 primary schools in Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education produced pre-school textbooks in 5 indigenous languages and distributed around 25,000 books.
On the other hand, Indigenous activists identified the lack of adequate, competent and qualified teachers in Indigenous languages. In addition, children belonging to many remote Indigenous communities still can not realize their right to education due to the lack of educational institutions in those areas.
We are deeply concerned about the ongoing violence and attacks on the Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Recent deadly attacks by Bengali settlers in the presence of state forces, in Khagrachari and Dighinala on 19 September, and in Rangamati on 20 September[1], have resulted in the deaths of four Indigenous persons (one in Rangamati and three in Khagrachari) and widespread arson attacks on Indigenous houses, businesses, and Buddhist places of worship. These events were ostensibly sparked by the alleged mob killing of a settler who was attempting to steal a motorbike.[2]
IWGIA is deeply concerned about the ongoing violent attacks on the Indigenous Jummo peoples in Dighinala Upazila, Khagrachari district, Bangladesh. According to local sources, several people have been injured, and numerous homes and businesses belonging to the Jummo community have been burned to ashes by Bengali settlers on the evening of 19 September 2024. IWGIA has also received photographic evidence showing Bengali settlers looting and setting fire to Jummo properties, with military personnel present, but failing to intervene.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (hereinafter, the Commission)1 warmly welcomes you and your newly formed interim government as you embark on rebuilding a new Bangladesh. As your interim government undertakes significant reforms to the state system and governance, we firmly believe that positive changes will also extend to the CHT. Despite the signing of the CHT Accord in 1997, no successive government has yet taken steps to fully implement it, and the CHT continues to experience widespread human rights violations and a breakdown of the rule of law, issues that the Commission has consistently highlighted through press statements and reports.
We are deeply concerned about the ongoing attacks on Indigenous Jummo people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) since September 19, 2024. The unrest began following the alleged mob killing of a Bengali settler on September 18. Without any proper investigation, Bengali settler organizations unjustly placed the blame on the Jummo community, despite the Officer-in-Charge of Khagrachari Police station confirming a different narrative[1]. Using this as a pretext, Bengali settlers launched violent attacks on Jummo individuals in Dighinala Upazila, Khagrachari, and set their properties ablaze on the evening of September 19[2].
After recent weeks of unrest that began in July over protests seeking to abolish a civil service job quota system, leaving more than 757 dead[1], Bangladesh is in a process of rebuilding. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country to India and criminal cases against her and other minsters have already been filed to take responsibility over the deaths.
Meanwhile, the country is being led by an interim government with Nobel laureate Muhammed Yunus as its head.
For Indigenous Peoples in the country this could open an opportunity to secure more recognition and protection of their rights and to fully exercise their rights, which continued to be seriously violated during Hasina’s 15-year iron-fisted rule. They seek proper Constitutional acknowledgement and at least one legitimate seat at the table as a partner in the new process of state building.
Minority Rights Group, the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) and FIAN International express their concern about the ongoing judicial review of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Regulation, 1900 in Bangladesh, which aims at weakening its wording that would undermine the rights of the Indigenous Peoples, also called Adivasis, of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. The organizations call upon the government of Bangladesh to take the necessary measures to protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights as well as the multicultural heritage of the CHT and Bangladesh as a whole.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Read more.
