SETTLER COLONIALISM: A NEW APPROACH TO STUDY INDIGENOUS RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS, BANGLADESH

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to bring forth the idea of settler colonialism as a possible instrument to address the ongoing indigenous rights crisis in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). The concept ‘settler colonialism’ has been used to study indigenous rights violations in many parts of the world including Canada, the United States, Australia and various South American countries. Here, we will focus on settler colonial tendencies centered around the indigenous population occupied territories in the world and see if they coincide with the situation in CHT, home to eleven indigenous communities of Bangladesh.  The indigenous populations of CHT are increasingly being challenged to maintain their rights as indigenous communities and the situation is only getting worse every moment. This state of CHT is not an isolated event, dissimilar to other indigenous population inhabited areas of the world. Therefore, if we relate the ongoing crisis of CHT with the concept of settler colonialism, we may be able to observe the situation through a wide lens that may give us some new perspective on this historical problem that has been an issue for Bangladesh since its inauguration as an independent nation.