The indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangaladesh

Abstract

This main purpose of this paper is to present a picture of how the Bangladesh indigenous peoples are being destroyed by present-day socio-economic and political processes; and to suggest improvement of their conditions. It attempts to analyse the clash of two highly uneven parties; the powerless versus the powerful; the Third World versus the Fourth World. The protagonists are the indigenous ethnic groups of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and the Bangladesh Government, settlers, developers, and the international aid agencies. In this clash, the former are being forced to pay too high a price for development that is primarily of benefits to others. Secondly, this paper also critically examines the "tribal" policies of the successive governments of Bangladesh and assesses their relative successes and failures. Finally, this paper calls for a strong protection of the indigenous peoples' right to be themselves, their right to land and its resources, a change in government policies, and a change from harmful development strategies to tolerant and beneficial ones in the CHT.