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Students protest CA’s terming ethnic minorities as ‘indigenous’

Published : Thursday, 29 August, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 266
Staff Correspondent
Students of different institutions including Dhaka University (DU) on Wednesday held a protest rally, claiming that Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus addressed ethnic minorities of Chattogram Hill Tracts as indigenous.

Under the banner of 'Students for Sovereignty', the protest rally was held at the base of Raju Memorial Sculpture on DU campus in the morning.

The protesters demanded withdrawal of the word 'indigenous' from the Chief Adviser's address to the nation on August 26.

They also demanded assurance that such 'irresponsible statements' would not be made again from the country's highest office. 

Convener of Students for Sovereignty Md Ziaul Haque said, "Indigenous means the original inhabitants of a country or a place or the people who have been living there since ancient times. In that sense, the Bengalis living in the territory are the indigenous people. On the other hand, all the small ethnic groups or tribes that are now in the Chattogram Hill Tracts are not from Bangladesh, but from India, Myanmar or its surrounding areas."

He asked, "So on what grounds can small ethnic groups be called indigenous people of Bangladesh?"
Calling ethnic minorities as indigenous conflicts with the independence, sovereignty and constitution of Bangladesh, said Ziaul, adding, "We cannot accept this in any way."

Joint Convener Md Tariqul Islam said, "Recognising a nation as indigenous allows the nation to seek UN intervention or autonomy as per the UN Charter. If the ethnic groups are indigenous, the conspiracy to separate the hill districts from Bangladesh and make them a part of the so-called Jumma Land or Greater Kuki-Chin may be strengthened, and a terrible Bengali genocide may begin in the mountains."

He said, "We have seen that the Chief Adviser does not want to divide the nation on the basis of majority-minority. But in his speech, he divided the nation into two parts, the indigenous and the immigrants, by uttering the word 'Adibasi'."

Expressing solidarity, founder President of Parbatya Chattogram Chhatra Parishad Engr Shahadat Farazi Sakib said addressed the protest rally, among others.

He said, "Our country is governed by our constitution. The constitution of the country clearly states that there are no indigenous people in the country, but we see that a group is very enthusiastic and wants to establish the small ethnic groups as indigenous people. I think there is a deeper plan behind it, through which a terrible conspiracy like partition is being observed."


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