We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the senseless, brutal attack on unarmed student protesters who are demanding recognition of Indigenous rights. These attacks have left scores injured, with some rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The attack took place at a time when Bangladesh is embarking on a journey towards restoring democracy. In post-uprising Bangladesh, the Indigenous communities — especially those from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), who for long have toiled under military occupation — have struggled to make their voices heard. Despite playing a prominent role in the July mass uprising, they now find themselves sidelined. Their testimonies are given short shrift while their concerns are brushed aside.
We are also witnessing a concerted campaign to erase Indigenous identities by perpetuating both military rule over Indigenous people and their displacements under the pretext of upholding national sovereignty. Considering the interim government’s reputation of capitulating under populist demands, the removal of a graffiti artwork featuring the word Adivasi (Indigenous) from school textbooks raises concerns that more retrograde measures are in the offing.
It will be nothing short of hypocritical on the part of Bangladesh’s interim government if it fails to address the festering problem of settler colonialism in the CHT when it has reaffirmed Bangladesh’s support for an independent Palestine at the UN General Assembly. As Professor Yunus and most of his cabinet members hail from Chittagong, they must be aware of the plight of Indigenous groups of that region. There is no justification for inaction; they must confront and address these issues directly.
Similarly, to the extent that student leaders of the July uprising believe in democratic equality and upholding human dignity, they must not mistake majoritarianism for popular sovereignty, nor should they be politically expedient in articulating their position. If they choose to hum and haw or be equivocal in their condemnation, they will only allow hidebound anti-democratic forces to make political hay out of the situation.
A democracy that fails to accord as much social, economic, and political rights to its minorities as to its majority is bound to flounder. If Bangladesh 2.0 wants to uphold the spirit of the July uprising and ensure that the sacrifices of the victims do not go in vain, it must return to the Indigenous population their human dignity by recognising and enshrining their rights in the revised constitution. We urge the interim government of Bangladesh to hold perpetrators of this violence accountable, protect the Indigenous groups from further violence, and launch a national dialogue to address Indigenous concerns.
