I ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank my parents first for bringing me in this lovely earth and support me doing whatever I enjoy to do. Then I would like to thank my honorable teacher Naznin Nahar Sultana, Assistant Professor of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Chittagong, for supervising our fieldwork so sincerely and friendly. I would like to thank cordially my teacher Shahidul Islam, Assistant Professor of Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Chittagong, who helped us undertaking the field work not only as a teacher, but also as a friend. We are also thankful to the other guests for going to the study area along with us. I would like to thank the detective branch of police at Sherpur for taking good care of us and helping us during trouble. The rail officers are also thanked to provide us suitable compartments for this very long journey from Chittagong to Mymensingh. I also thank the hotel manager at Sherpur, the AGM and other industrial officials of Sherpur for helping us providing a number of relevant information. The chairman of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Chittagong, is also thanked to permit us going to study area and perform our research. As well as, I am thankful to all of my fellows. I also would like to thank the stuffs of my department for helping us by taking care of the research tools and instruments II ABSTRACT The study is about everyday geographies and vulnerabilities of the ethnic community with a case study on Garo people, Sherpur. The Garo people have been facing troubles in different aspects of their lives. They are deprived of many available facilities due to their ethnicity and geographical backwardness. The objective of undertaking this study is to know everyday life of the ethnic/Garo community, to explore spatial vulnerabilities of the Garo people. It is also aimed to provide some recommendations to improve the lifestyle of the community. Basic methods for primary data collection were questionnaire survey, observation method and physical sample collection. The study has revealed many vulnerabilities of the Garo people such as they have been the victim of negligence for a long time, the women have been suffering from different types health complications during pregnancy and they are also deprived of the available facilities of ethnic education. The study suggested some recommendations to mitigate these issues and provide the ethnic people a better daily geography. III TABLE OF CONTENT Chapter Page Chapter One: Introduction 1 1.1: Introduction 2 1.2: Aim and Objective 2 1.3: Literature Review 2 1.3.1: Introduction 2 1.3.2: Ethnicity and ethnic groups 3 1.3.3: Ethnic people of Bangladesh 7 1.3.4: Garo People of Bangladesh 8 1.3.5: Population Dynamic of Garo People 11 1.3.6: Everyday Geographies of Garo Community 11 1.3.7: Vulnerabilities of Garo Community 13 1.3.8: Conclusion 14 1.4: Research Gap 14 1.5: Significance of the Study 14 1.6: Limitations of the Study 15 1.7: Conclusion 16 Chapter Two: Methodology 17 2.1: Introduction 18 2.2: Background of the Study 18 2.2.1: List of Survey Areas 18 2.2.2: Sherpur District 18 2.2.3: Jhenaigati Upazila 22 2.2.4: Nalitabari Upazila 26 2.3: Study Site Selection 26 2.4: Primary Data Collection 26 2.4.1: Data Collection Methods 26 2.4.2: Determination of Sample Size 27 2.4.3: Sample Strategy 27 2.5: Data Processing, Analysis and Presentation 28 2.6: Secondary Data Collection 28 2.7: Conclusion 29 Chapter Three: Everyday Geographies of Garo People 30 IV 3.1: Introduction 31 3.2: Demographic Profile of the Respondents 31 3.2.1: Age of the Respondents 32 3.2.2: Gender of the Respondents 33 3.2.3: Family Members of the Respondents 34 3.2.4: Duration of Living 35 3.2.5: Migration Causes 35 3.3: Land Status and Housing Pattern 36 3.4: Occupation of the Respondents (Income Sources and Family Member Involvement) 37 3.5: Income Level 38 3.5.1: Daily Income 38 3.5.2: Monthly Income 38 3.6: Daily Food Intake 39 3.7: Education Level and Existing education Facilities 40 3.7.1: Number if Institutions 40 3.7.2: Level of Existing Education 41 3.7.3: Help from Organizations 41 3.7.4: Language of Instruction 42 3.7.5: Technological Advancement 43 3.8: Expenditure of the Garo Family Income 44 3.9: Culture and Customs of the Garo people 44 3.9.1: Head of the family 45 3.9.2: Marriage ceremony 45 3.9.3: Special food 46 3.9.4: Cultural Programs 47 3.9.5: Social Norms and Values 47 3.10: Conclusion 48 Chapter Four: Facilities and Vulnerabilities Experienced by Garo Community 49 4.1: Introduction 50 4.2: Existing Infrastructural Facilities and Problems 50 4.2.1: Accommodation 50 4.2.2: Transportation 50 4.2.3: Educational Institution 51 4.3 Water and Sanitation Condition 52 4.3.1: Existing Sources of Water 52 4.3.2: Contamination of water 53 V 4.3.3: Water Crisis and Water Borne Diseases 54 4.3.4: Sanitation Condition 54 4.3.5: Knowledge about Hygiene 55 4.4: Health issues and vulnerabilities 55 4.4.1: Existing Health Centre 55 4.4.2: Knowledge on Reproductive Issues 56 4.4.3: Vulnerabilities during Pre and Post Birth Periods 56 4.4.4: Medical Service during Emergency 58 4.5: Social Vulnerabilities 58 4.6: Political Rights and Duties 60 4.6.1: Voting Right of Garo people 60 4.6.2: Attitude of Political Leader 61 4.6.3: Political Commitment and their Implementation 62 4.6.4: Political Problems Faced by the Garo Community 62 4.7: Disaster Vulnerabilities 63 4.7.1: Disaster Experienced 63 4.7.2: Early warning 63 4.8: Conclusion 64 Chapter Five: Recommendation and Conclusions 66 5.1: Key Findings 67 5.2: Assessing Needs 68 5.2.1: Recommendations from Respondents 68 5.2.2: Recommendations from the Author 69 5.3: Supporting Organizations 70 5.4: Conclusion 71 Chapter Six: Reference and Appendix 72 VI LIST OF MAPS Map Page Concentration of Ethnic Population 5 Migration route of Garo community 10 Study Area in Bangladesh Map 20 Sherpur District 21 Jhenaigati Upazila 23 Nalitabari Upazila 25 VII LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Figure 1: The ethnic population 6 Figure 2: Language based information of Garo community 9 Figure 3: Names of Districts and Upazila where the Garo Habitats 9 Figure 4: List of study locations 18 Figure 5: Climograph of Sherpur 29 Figure 6: Sample size determination 27 Figure 7: Secondary data sources 29 Figure 8: Age of the Respondents 32 Figure 9: Gender of the Respondents 33 Figure 10: Family Members of the Respondents 34 Figure 11: Duration of living 35 Figure 12: Migration causes of the respondents 35 Figure 13: Housing types of respondents 36 Figure 14: Occupation of respondents 37 Figure 15: Daily income of respondents 38 Figure 16: Monthly income of respondents 39 Figure 17: Food intake by the respondents 40 Figure 18: Education level at the study areas 41 Figure 19: NGO help to the respondents 42 Figure 20: Education medium of the respondents 43 Figure 21: Expenditure of the Garo Family Income 44 Figure 22: Head of the families of respondents 45 Figure 23: Common marriage phenomena of Garos 46 Figure 24: Common cultural programs of the respondents 47 Figure 25: Transportation coast in the study area 51 Figure 26: Educational institutes in the study area 52 Figure 27: available water sources to Garo people 53 Figure 28: Arsenic contamination in the study area 53 Figure 29: Sanitation condition of the study area 54 Figure 30: Hygiene knowledge of the respondents 55 Figure 31: Knowledge of respondents on reproductive issues 56 Figure 32 & 33: Vulnerabilities during Pre and Post Birth Periods 57 Figure 34: Medical service during emergency 58 Figure 35: Conflicts of Garo with majority of people 59 Figure 36: Negligence towards Garo due to their ethnicity 60 VIII Figure 37: Possession of voting ID by the respondents 61 Figure 38: The arrival of political leaders during election 61 Figure 39: The tendency of keeping promises of the political leaders 62 Figure 40: Natural disasters in the study area 63 Figure 41: Natural disasters in the study area 64 Figure 42: Help provided to Garo people 71 IX ACRONYMS BBS= Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics SEHD= Society for Environment and Human Development WoV= Window of Vulnerability BGB= Border Guards Bangladesh TWA= Tribal Welfare Association of Bangladesh LGED= Local Government Engineering Department NU= Nalitabari Upazila JU= Jhenaigati Upazila MoCA= Ministry of Cultural Affairs MoE= Ministry of Environment BRAC= Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee ASA= Association for Social Advancement CARE= Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere SDS= Shariatpur Development Society SPSS= Statistical Package for Social Sciences 1 Chapter One: Introduction Chapter One: Introduction In this Chapter- Introduction Aim and Objective Literature Review Significance of the Study Limitation Conclusion 2 Chapter One: Introduction 1.1: Introduction In Bangladesh there are 29 indigenous groups (Khaleque, 1998), approximately 1.2 million and 1.13% of the total population. Among them the Garo is one of the largest indigenous communities of Bangladesh. They live in the north-eastern parts of the country especially in Gagipur, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Tangail, Sherpur , Jamalpur and some in Sylhet districts close to the Indian border.