ETHNICITY AND ENVIRONMENT: ‘TRIBAL’ CULTURE AND THE STATE IN BANGLADESH Farid Uddin Ahamed Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Anthropology University College London University of London 1 UMI Number: U602427 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U602427 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract Ethnicity and Environment: ‘Tribal9 Culture and the State in Bangladesh This thesis investigates the current predicament of the people of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh, a population with significant cultural differentiation from the mainstream Bengali population. Dealing with the issues of their survival in the forest and their quest for identity, the research explores how their ethnicity and environment are intertwined. This is examined in the context of state policies towards non-Bengali ethnic minorities in the CHT. The study identifies sources of diversity at the micro level and the forces that create conditions for ‘unity in diversity’ at the macro level. One is the assertion of ‘self-image’ on the basis of cultural polarity within the confines of a multi-ethnic locality. The other is the assertion of ‘collective image’ as unifying forces stemming from the notion of shared deprivation and marginalisation generated by conditions of the State and State institutions. This ethnographic study is based on two years fieldwork between January 1999 and December 2000 among three ethnic groups, Marma, Bawm and Tanchanga in Banderban district of southern CHT. The thesis is divided into three main parts. Part one deals with research context, the historical development in CHT and the main theoretical issues concerning the relationships between ethnicity, social movement and indigenous land rights. The second part looks at local perceptions of settlement, locality and village organisation and at the dimensions of linguistic identity at both group and collective levels. The third part examines broader issues, events and processes concerning ethnic mobilisation around the traditional land use system, jhum, and the politics ofkhas land, based on case materials of how jhum lands are leased out to Bengalis. This is followed by analysis of local electoral processes and a concluding discussion of ‘ethnic mobilisation’, ‘multi-ethnicity’, and ‘social movements’. The study promotes a deeper understanding of the multi-ethnic nature of the Bangladeshi State and provides a more balanced assessment of the relationship between ethnicity, environment, development and the state. It also contributes to the wider anthropology of forest-dwelling peoples of South Asia. It challenges the political use of environmentalism and anthropological knowledge in national and regional disputes over the control and use of natural resources. 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................9 Introduction ............................................................................................12 The General Background of the CHT ...............................................................16 Outline of the Study............................................................................................23 Part One: Reseach Context, Theory and Methods............................................ 24 Part Two: Self-image-Dynamics of Ethnic Group Identity............................... 25 Part Three: Collective-image - Dynamics of Shared Identity ........................... 27 Chapter One............................................................................................32 Theoretical Considerations on Ethnicity and Environment ............... 32 Introduction..........................................................................................................32 Ethnicity: Theoretical Perspectives..................................................................33 The ‘Tribes’ of Bangladesh in National Cultural Context ............................40 Limitations of Ethnicity Theories.....................................................................43 Alternative Theories of New Social Movement and Collective Identity ....45 Environment as Social Context ........................................................................54 Review and Critique of Existing Ethnographic Literature on CHT.............63 A Brief Review of the Literature ......................................................................64 Colonial Understanding of CHT....................................................................... 64 Post-colonial Understanding............................................................................. 65 More Recent Studies......................................................................................... 67 The CHT in Ethnographic Details....................................................................69 Names and Numbers ......................................................................................... 69 Language and Ethnicity..................................................................................... 69 Social Organisation........................................................................................... 71 Social and Political Context of Land Tenure and Use................................... 72 Jhum...................................................................................................................72 Ownership and Rights....................................................................................... 74 Chapter Two ...........................................................................................77 Methodological Procedures and the Research Setting ....................... 77 Introduction..........................................................................................................77 Methodological Issues of Fieldwork ............................................................... 78 Doing Research at Home................................................................................... 79 Positioning Self and the Wider Consideration of the Research in the CHT 80 Penetrating the micro-level: acceptance and trust............................................. 81 Language Learning............................................................................................ 83 3 Initial fieldwork activities ................................................................................. 85 Journey to the Roangchari................................................................................. 86 Participant Observation ..................................................................................... 88 Observing local political process and degree of participation...........................89 Local understandings of agricultural system, land tenure and rights................ 91 Case Study Material.......................................................................................... 93 Archival work and Census material .................................................................. 95 The Research Setting......................................................................................... 96 Location for the Research.................................................................................. 96 Roangchari as multi-ethnic setting ...................................................... 98 Rockoywa Roa (Marma village) ......................................................................100 Bottoli Pada (Tanchanga village) .....................................................................101 Soanloo Para (Bawm village)...........................................................................102 Chapter Three......................................................................................105 Settlement, Social Organisation and Ethnic Identity....................... 105 Settlement and Identity.................................................................................... 106 Marma..............................................................................................................107 Bawm................................................................................................................109 Tanchanga...................................................................................................... 110 Notion of Attachment...................................................................................... I l l Social Organisation...........................................................................................112 Clan Organisation.............................................................................................112 Marma Clan Organisation............................................................................... 112 Bawm Clan Organisation...............................................................................114 Tanchanga Clan Organisation..........................................................................117 Descent, Family