Gender Dimensions of Development Interventions and Human Security for Indigenous People in Chittagong Hill Tracts Shahana Nasrin Ph.D. Researcher (Session: 2011-2012) Registration No. 143 and Associate Professor Institute of Social Welfare and Research University of Dhaka Dhaka-1205 A thesis submitted for the fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare Institute of Social Welfare and Research University of Dhaka Dhaka-1205 May 2017 Certificate from the Supervisor This is to certify that the thesis entitled Gender Dimensions of Development Interventions and Human Security for Indigenous People in Chittagong Hill Tracts done by Ms. Shahana Nasrin is an original research work. The views expressed in the thesis are originated from field-based data and is entirely her contribution. The thesis has not been submitted anywhere else for any purposes, e.g., degree or publications. This may be submitted to the examiners to evaluate for conferring the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare. (Dr. Muhammad Samad) Professor Institute of Social Welfare and Research University of Dhaka Dhaka-1205 i Declaration I hereby solemnly declare that this thesis represents my own work based on field-based data, except where due acknowledgment is made, and that it has not been previously included in a dissertation or report submitted to any university or other tertiary institution for a degree, diploma or other qualification. (Shahana Nasrin) Ph.D. Researcher (Session: 2011-2012) and Associate Professor Institute of Social Welfare and Research University of Dhaka Dhaka-1205 ii Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude and sincere thanks to a number of people and organizations for their cooperation and good advice to complete the study. Before that, first I express my heartiest gratitude to Almighty Allah for giving me the strength and opportunity to complete the present study successfully. I am deeply grateful to my learned supervisor Professor Dr. Muhammad Samad who guided me through each step of the research work with his expertise, scholarly knowledge and succinct analysis. I am deeply indebted to him for his invaluable advice, constructive criticism, extreme patience, prudent guidance, intellectual contribution and insightful suggestions throughout the entire process of the Ph.D. research. I must mention the important contribution of the respondents and participants of FGDs who have made the study possible. It would not have been possible to complete this study without their sincere cooperation. The most profound gratitude is to the indigenous people of the study area who helped me as respondents by giving their time, energy, supports. I am also extremely grateful to them for sharing their experiences and extended their sincere hospitality and generosity. These people confidently describe their gendered experience about human insecurities, development interventions, violence and communal conflicts and status of implementation of the CHT Accord and identity crisis etc. I would like to convey my heartfelt thanks to the discussants of the seminars on research proposal, literature review and theoretical framework and findings of the study for their constructive comments and valuable suggestions which have enriched the quality of the study. I would also like to express my appreciation to my colleagues and faculty members of the Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka for their encouragement, moral support, continuous cooperation and support to reach the final stage of the research work. I express my sense of gratitude to Mr. Shaktipada Tripura for his cooperation and generous help that he provided me out of a feeling of doing good for the people of indigenous communities. He provided me valuable inputs in the form of comments, sharing ideas and information regarding socio-cultural issues, threats, deprivation, impact iii of development interventions in the CHT that have greatly benefitted my study. Needless to say, Mr. Trijinad Chakma, Mr. Moni Tripura, Ms. Swaraswati Tripura and Mr. Joten Tripura have rendered a most significant help that made the arduous task of fieldwork a pleasant experience. They have done most difficult task for me to communicate with the Marma and the Tripura communities of different paras (villages), gather FGD participants, accompanied us to go to remote hill areas like Chaklachhari and Killamura. I am also thankful to them to make me understand various customs, culture and tradition of indigenous people. I am really indebted to them for their care and succor. I owe a special debt to Headmen and Karbaies of different Mouzas for their sincere cooperation in sharing their information and experiences regarding different conflicting issues, historical and political context of the CHT and development interventions. I would like to record my deep appreciation and acknowledgement to NGO Officials from UNDP, BRAC, Tounga, and Green Hill for their valuable contribution, insights and help that I received from them during field study despite their intense work pressure. Above all, I would have not been able to accomplish this work without the full support, encouragement and utmost cooperation of my beloved husband Dr. Md. Anwar Hossain, Professor, Department of Social Work, Jagannath University, Dhaka. His contribution is beyond the reach of my thanks. I am also grateful to my daughter and son for their patience and understanding work load during data collection and thesis writing as they work as living force and source of my energy. My sincere gratitude is to my father Mr. Md. Shahidul Hossain Biswas for his constant support and encouragement. His constant phone calls indeed were a stream of inspiration. I am indeed grateful to my mother and mother in-law for their kind support and encouragement. Shahana Nasrin Dhaka iv Abstract Human insecurities in Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh in terms of land dispossession, forced migration, environmental degradation, and loss of ownership of natural resources, socioeconomic backwardness and ethnic conflict are still major concern of the policy makers, human rights workers, donor agencies and other stakeholders. As a result, various development measures have been undertaken for the well-being and improvement of socioeconomic conditions of the indigenous people. In such a situation, the present study has been carried out aimed at identifying the nature of human security and insecurity of the indigenous people, exploring the gender dimension of development interventions and analyzing the impacts development interventions on lives and livelihoods of the indigenous people living in CHT. The study is qualitative in nature and purposive sampling procedure was followed to select the study area and sample as well. The site of empirical investigation of the present study was Rangamati hill district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. At first, four villages from the four upazilas (sub-districts) of Rangamati hill district and two paras from Municipal area of Rangamati were purposively selected as the study area. Secondly, 36 adult indigenous people, 18 from the Marma (nine male and nine female) and 18 from the Tripura (nine male and nine female) community, were selected as respondents for the study using purposive sampling procedure. It helped the researcher to select the appropriate samples who were able to provide relevant information. However, the study is based on primary data gathered by the researcher herself mainly through semi-structured interview and focus group discussions. Eight case studies were also conducted to get deeper insights into the research issues. Non-participant observation helped the researcher to capture the socio-cultural diversities, gender dimension, and nature of insecurities and impact of development interventions on indigenous people. In addition, data were collected from the key informants who were reservoir of knowledge about CHT. Data were collected from secondary sources that include legal documents, official reports, earlier studies, books, journals etc. The study employed the analytical framework of human security and intersectionality as theoretical underpinnings to analyze the findings. v The study findings revealed the gender dimensions of insecurities and threats that indigenous people experienced in their daily lives. The impacts of development interventions on them were explored in the selected two communities. The analysis of gender roles and responsibilities of the Tripura and the Marma community showed that respectful attitude towards women, equal treatment to boys and girls, freedom of movement, taking consent in marriage etc. had given indigenous women some privileges within their communities. On the other hand, women were discriminated too in their daily lives in respect of property inheritance, decision-making power, physical integrity, differential pay gap, selection of household head etc. Nonetheless, the study also tried to understand the local perception of human security and it was found that indigenous people conceptualized it as protection from and prevention of threats to humanity. Despite expressing common view in defining human security, the nature of insecurities was perceived differently by the indigenous men and women of the two communities. Indigenous women from both communities prioritized on the satisfaction of basic material needs like food, shelter, health, education, physical integrity etc. while indigenous men accentuated on meaningful participation