The Awami League and BNP reached a rare consensus at a watchdog meeting on Wednesday on the term Adivasi (indigenous people), as claimed by the ethnic minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracks.
The parliamentary standing committee on the foreign ministry observed that the use of Adivasi was a “conspiracy” against the national interests.
“As all of the people have been living in the territory for thousands of years, there is no Adivasi in Bangladesh,” said the committee.
According to the ILO convention (169) on indigenous rights, if the word Adivasi is given recognition Bangladesh will feel obligated to give all ethnic minorities the right to self-determination.
The foreign ministry in its proposal suggested the government amend the constitution by inserting a section stating “all the nationals of Bangladesh are indigenous to the land”. The standing committee, however, refrained from recommending it.
Replying to the questions of the 10-member watchdog, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni clarified the probable long-term impact of the term Adivasi.
“The term indigenous people and Adivasi are not the same. Adivasi stands for “first nation”, she said, “Are they the first nation? We people have been living here for centuries. We are all indigenous to the land.”
The meeting sources said Dipu Moni said the context of indigenous people in the western countries and those in Bangladesh was not the same, as the small ethnic minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracks came there from Myanmar.
“The Bengalis have not imposed its rule on the minorities as happened in many western countries,” she said.
Moreover, the foreign minister said the peace deal with the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity referred to the hill people as tribal people, not Adivasi.
AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, a committee member from the opposition BNP, said: “All the members of the committee, irrespective of our political deferences, have arrived at a consensus on not to recognise the term Adivasi. This is a conspiracy against our national interests.”
“We are all Adivasis and the ethnic minorities in Chittagong Hill Tracks are not the Adivasis,” he said, referring to the decision of the standing committee meeting with the Awami League MP Nilufer Zafar Ullah in the chair.
“If they are Adivasis we are invaders. Is this so?” he asked.
The standing committee was convinced by the minster’s briefing, and backed the government position, observing that the rights of the all ethnic minorities in Bangladesh were protected by the constitution and the state as a whole.
The working paper presented at the meeting by the foreign ministry said the ethnic minorities, according to the indigenous people’s rights, may declare a specific area as theirs and demand control on all resources within the territory.
Recognition of such rights may threaten Bangladesh’s territorial integrity and question the country’s sovereign authorities.
The committee members Nasrul Hamid, Zahid Maleque, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and Nazma Akter attended the meeting.
