Home
+
Published : 01 Feb 2025, 12:44 AM
The Bangladesh Adivasi Forum has put forward 12 demands, including constitutional recognition for Adivasi communities, and the arrest of those responsible for recent attacks on Adivasi students and activists outside the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, or NCTB, office.
They also called for reinstating graffiti featuring the word "Adivasi" in textbooks.
The demands were made during a rally held on Friday afternoon at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.
During the rally, speakers also highlighted attacks on various shrines, Sufi-Bauls, women, and incidents where female celebrities were prevented from attending events, as well as obstacles to organising women’s football matches.
They said the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government was the product of the student movement.
He added that instead of taking action against the attackers, the government has been issuing condemnations.
On Jan 15, members of the student group Agitated Adivasi Students held a sit-in outside the NCTB building in protest against the removal of artwork featuring the word "Adivasi" from textbooks.
They were attacked by the opposing side supporting the removal of the artwork.
In response to the attack, the following day, when the protesters attempted to besiege the home ministry, police used water cannons and baton-charged the students to disperse them.
A picture that used the term “Adivasi” was used for the back cover of the Bengali grammar and composition textbook for ninth and tenth graders. The artwork depicted a tree with five leaves, each inscribed with a term for a religious or ethnic community in Bangladesh - Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, and “adivasi”. “Tearing leaves is prohibited” was written next to the picture.
The picture was removed from the online version of the book after members of the “Students of Sovereignty”, an organisation of Bengalis living in the hill areas, surrounded the NCTB office premises on Jan 12.
The writer and researcher Pavel Partha highlighted the issue during the rally.
"The people's aspirations of Bangladesh were expressed through graffiti on the walls. However, betraying the July mass uprising, the graffiti on the walls has been removed and altered.
“I condemn such behaviour from the NCTB. They are acting with the same authority and arrogance as the previous regime.
“The uprising gives us the message of inclusion, a pluralistic and inclusive society, and the message of Bangladesh, which was reflected in that graffiti."
He expressed solidarity with the 12 demands of the forum.
Pavel believes that if attacks continue, it will be a continuation of the historical oppression, exploitation, and deprivation faced by the Adivasi people living in Bangladesh.
Daily Samakal Advisory Editor Abu Sayeed Khan said, "In the recent struggle, the Bengali and Adivasi communities fought together. At that time, the idea of an inclusive society was discussed, where everyone was supposed to work together. But it seems that the spirit has faded. What happened on the 15th is unfortunate."
Referring to the removal of the graffiti from textbooks, he said: "The Adivasi people have been attacked twice – once by terrorists and once by police."
Sayeed commented that all victims of the attacks must unite.
"The attacks are not limited to the Adivasis. There have been attacks on shrines, Sufi-Bauls, and even women. Female celebrities are being prevented from attending events. Women in Joypurhat and Dinajpur are unable to play football."
He remarked that a "mobocracy" has been established in the country.
"This mobocracy must not be allowed in Bangladesh. It's also a threat to the press."
He concluded, “Yunus government is the result of a movement. They should be suppressed, but instead of taking action, they are issuing condemnations. If they condemn, where will the common people go?"
Lawyer Nicolas Chakma said, "In the 1980s, settlers came to the hills under the protection of the administration. Now they claim that Chakma and Marma are outsiders and that they themselves are the Adivasis.
"Why has one group of people been provided rations for the last 45 years in the Chattogram Hill Tracts? We will ask the state this question through the courts."
12-point list of demands
1. The Adivasi communities residing in Bangladesh must be constitutionally recognised as Adivasis.
2. Those responsible for the barbaric attacks on Adivasi students, people, and rights activists outside the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, or NCTB, office must be swiftly arrested, and peace must be ensured.
3. The graffiti featuring the word "Adivasi" in textbooks must be reinstated.
4. The political, social, economic, cultural, and land rights of Adivasis must be ensured.
5. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord must be properly implemented with a schedule-based roadmap announced.
6. A separate ministry and land commission must be formed for the Adivasis of the plains.
7. Eco-parks, social forestry, eco-tourism, Export Processing Zones, or EPZs, or any other projects must not be undertaken or implemented on Adivasi land without their prior consent, and the land of Sahebganj Bagda Farm must be returned to its original local owners.
8. All persecution and torture against Adivasi people must be stopped and all false cases must be withdrawn immediately.
9. The United Nations Decalaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or UNDRP, adopted by the General Assembly and International Labour Organisation, or ILO, Convention 169 must be supported, and ILO Convention 107 must be implemented.
10. Special seats for Adivasis must be reserved in the Parliament, and designated seats for Adivasis must be allocated in local government council elections in Adivasi-majority areas.
11. Steps must be taken to enhance the living standards of all tea workers, including Adivasi communities, by ensuring fair wages and improved working conditions in tea gardens.
12. A 5 percent Adivasi quota must be reserved in first-class government jobs and higher educational institutions in Bangladesh.
