[View the story "Bangladesh's Forgotten People" on Storify ]Bangladesh's Forgotten People Alleged human rights abuses against Bangladesh's indigenous groups sparks anger online. Storified by The Stream · Wed, Oct 26 2011 21:59:36
Since Bangladesh declared its independence in 1971, relations between the government and the country's minority indigenous groups have never been fully resolved.
For decades, violence and alleged human rights abuses have pushed indigenous peoples (known as Jumma or Adibashi) off their ancestral lands. Bangladesh's indigenous groups now live mainly in the southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Ongoing land disputes between Bengalis and indigenous peoples
continue to provoke clashes. 3.bp.blogspot.com
A recent attack on Jumma peoples occurred April 20:
On April 20th, hundreds of illegal settlers attacked seven Jumma communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) of Bangladesh. Over 500 houses are reported to have been burned, and an unknown number of Jumma were assaulted, raped, and looted during the attack.intercontinentalcry.org
If you look at the the Bangladeshi dailies, you will see news and pictures of injured and dead Bengali settlers. How come they never dare to publish the pictures of these injured Indigenous people?chtnewsupdate.blogspot.com
From the blog
CHT News Update : A photo of a Jumma girl who was allegedly injured in the April 20 clash.
4.bp.blogspot.com
On the Facebook group
CHT Voice , Ashis McCarty writes:
Who is responsible if this innocent girl in future turns into a bloody terrorist to take revenge from the pple from whom she has been harassed? Who is responsible if she becomes a big problem for the country? Who is responsible if she becomes a ‘Bin laden’? facebook.com
Settlers attack Jumma in the Chittagong Hill Tractsintercontinentalcry.org
The Chittagong Hill Tracts is home to a minority Buddhist population. Incidents of violence have occurred earlier in the wake of efforts by successive governments to settle Bengali Muslims on tribal land. An accord reached in 1997 has not been fully implemented. twocircles.net
Through the Internet, Bangladesh's indigenous are able to garner more attention.
The voices of the indigenous people are rarely heard in the mainstream media but through the Internet - blogs and Facebook - they have found a platform from which to be heard. rezwanul.blogspot.com
A Facebook group in support of the Adibashi:
United We Stand To Help The Adibashi (Indigenous) People of Bangladesh | FacebookFacebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, post links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.
Arifur Rahman posted this
Flickr photo set of indigenous people in the Bandarban District in southeastern Bangladesh.
Bandarban - a set on Flickrfarm2.static.flickr.com
The majority of the adibashi population live in rural settings, where many practice cultivation. Most adibashis are of Sino-Tibetan descent and have distinctive Mongoloid features. They differ in their social organisation, marriage customs, birth, and death rites, food, and other social customs from the people of the rest of the country. They speak Tibeto-Burman languages.oxfam.org.uk
Tribal Life Style 2AЯίF | Arifur Rahman
This video shows schoolchildren from the Murong tribe in the Chittagong Hill Tracts:
Murong school with own language in Chittagong Hill Tracts, BangladeshShibubd
Over the years, the adibashi minority communities have been made to experience a strong sense of social, political, and economic exclusion, lack of recognition, fear and insecurity, loss of cultural identity, and social oppression.oxfam.org.uk
Mother & childrenflickr.com
The challenges faced by indigenous women are even greater.
In a Muslim-dominated country they are a religious minority. In a nationalist, Bangali-dominated society they are an ethnic minority. Within their own patriarchal community they face marginalization, exploitation, and increasingly, violence. hanashams.wordpress.com
Bangladeshi blogger Jerome D'Costa writes:
If Bangladesh is a people's republic and if Bangladesh is a democratic country, where all its citizens irrespective of their religious, ethnic and financial status are to be treated equally, the government of Bangladesh must ensure those rights now and in future.bangladeshcanadaandbeyond.blogspot.com
Are you in Bangladesh? What must be done to ensure the rights and culture of indigenous groups? Tell us on
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