Bangladesh ethnic minorities call for recognition as ‘indigenous’

Rights organisations, socio-political parties, people of ethnic minority groups in human chains they formed across the country on Saturday demanded constitutional recognition of such ethnic groups as 'indigenous people (adivasis).'

Speakers at the human chain at Shahbagh in the capital said the word 'adivasi' does not mean people who come first in a land and it rather means communities having distinct identity from the mainstream in culture, history, heritage, land ownership and customary, rather than statutory, laws for solution to social and legal problems within the communities.

Suranjit Sengupta, co-chair of the special parliamentary committee on constitution amendment,

earlier said that ethnic minority groups could be recognised s 'small anthropological groups' in the constitution.

The Bangladesh Adivasi Forum general secretary, Sanjeeb Drong, said that 'small anthropological groups' is an imported idea and it does not mean anything as every individual belongs to an anthropological group.

He demanded that ethnic minority groups should be termed either by the phrase 'indigenous people' or by their specific ethnicity such as the Chakmas, the Marmas, the Garos and so on.

After a meeting of the special parliamentary committee, Suranjit on March 15 said that the definition of 'indigenous people' as used by the United Nations did not apply to the situation in Bangladesh.

The speakers at the human chain said that the existing laws such as the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act 1950, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation 1900, the Finance Act 1995, the Small Anthropological Groups Act 2010, the ruling Awami League's election manifesto for the 2008 general elections and the Awami League's constitution use the term 'adivasi.'

Cultural activist Mamunur Rashid, Nirmal Chatterji of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Saleh Ahmed of Sammilita Samajik Andolan, Sharif Jamil of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan, journalist Selim Samad and Dipayan Khisha of the Kapaeeng Foundation also spoke.

Reports from Barisal, Moulvibazar, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Sirajganj, Jaipurhat, Barguna and the Chittagong Hill Tracts reported that such ethnic minority groups and other socio-political organisations in the places also formed human chains to push for the demand.

Read the original story on the daily New Age