Durham E-Theses The Indigeneity question: State Violence, Forced Displacement and Women's Narratives in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh NASREEN, ZOBAIDA How to cite: NASREEN, ZOBAIDA (2017) The Indigeneity question: State Violence, Forced Displacement and Women's Narratives in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12063/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 The Indigeneity question: State Violence, Forced Displacement and Women's Narratives in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh A poster on display at the Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka promoting tourism in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Caption: Women of Chittagong Hill Tract. Zobaida Nasreen Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Department of Anthropology Durham University 2017 The Indigeneity question: State Violence, Forced Displacement and Women's Narratives in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh Zobaida Nasreen Abstract This research aims to examine the experiences of forced displacement arising out of decades of militarisation and land grabbing perpetrated by the Bangladesh Army and Bengali settlers on the indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. Situated within the context of the anthropology of violence, displacement, indigeneity and South Asia this is rooted in the paradigm of historical and social anthropology. The approach of the study is multi-sited, discursive, uses qualitative methodology and is based on nine months of ethnographic research between 2012 and 2013 in two districts in the CHT among four indigenous groups. I focus on ordinary (non-activist) indigenous hill women‘s narratives of violence and forced displacement in the pre- and post- peace accord (signed in 1997) periods. Ordinary indigenous people were drawn into the armed conflict between the Bangladesh army and the Shanti Bahini (SB), the armed wing of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti (PCJSS). Women‘s participation was in the form of direct and organised resistance as well as unorganised, everyday resistance and negotiation, yet none of it is acknowledged in the peace process. While there is some work on the narratives of indigenous woman activists there is little documentation of ordinary (often assumed to be passive) indigenous women’s narratives of violence and everyday forms of protest and negotiation. Instead, I argue that the various kinds of non-activist women’s everyday experience of terror as a result of Forced Displacement in the CHT is not a singular experience. Their experience can only be understood through the confluence of their encounter with state and army violence; as well as through interactions with activists, infra-politics in the local community and at the conjuncture of their own various locations. In the process, the ethnography of the ordinary indigenous women interrogates and challenge the concept of indigeneity. Table of Contents List of photos and Illustrations vi List of tables vii Acknowledgments x Abbreviation xi ‘Beautiful Bangladesh’ has no Indigenous communities: Introduction 1 Representation of Indigenous Communities in Bangladesh Bangladesh and the 'Indigenous' Women of the CHT Different Indigenous Communities Chakma Marma Tripura Santal Conflict, Gendered Displacement and State Violence Chapter outline Chapter One ‘Desperate to identify themselves as “Adibasi”’: Theoretical Overviews 26 State Discourses on CHT Everyday violence Everyday Fear Bodily memory Conclusion Chapter Two A Bangali anthropologist among 'Pahari' communities: Locating oneself and the field 45 Introduction Background of My Interest Re-shaping the Self in the Field Bangalis in the Field Areas i Negotiating Academic and Activist Identities Multi-sited field People to Whom I Spoke Amount of Land Education Marital Status Method, sources and Ethics Conclusion Chapter Three CHT kothon (Stories of the CHT) 70 History of the CHT and Its Place in Bangladesh The CHT Administration Colonial Period (1760-1947) Colonial Hangover State Discourse on CHT (Bangladesh Period) Nationalism and Militarisation Militarisation Peace Initiative and the 1997 Accord Contrasting Discourses: 'Indigenous' Women’s Socio-Economic Status Succession and 'Inheritance' rights Politics and Power Structure Conclusion Chapter Four Kalpana Chakma: Symbolic of the State’s Physical Violence and Women’s Activism 94 Introduction Location of Violence Sexual violence Physical Violence Kalpana Chakma: Symbol of Victim and Protest 'Indigenous' Protest and Women’s Organisation against Sexual Violence in the CHT Genesis of Mahila Samiti ii Hill Women Federation (HWF) Witnessing and Trajectories of Protest Women’s Protest Arms Training Medical Training Mahila panchayat Gender dimension of the accord Women’s Organisation: Autonomous Agency? Everyday activism National and International level Activists and Activism Conclusion Chapter Five ‘DoledaleTheith See Huhui Thigthigi’ (Lizard is everywhere): State Violence and the Everyday – Suspicion and Distrust 119 Introduction Mapping the Violence Every day Forms of Violence: Fear and Distrust Discarding Memory and Suspicion Self-Surveillance of 'Indigenous' People Semantic Oomination and Protest Conclusion Chapter Six Apnar cheye por bhalo (‘Other’ is better than ‘my own’): Friends and Traitors 138 Introduction Contesting 'we' and ' they' Role of Army and Complicity Enemy within and between CHT, Government Perspectives and the Dynamics of Relationship Love with 'enemies' Conclusion Chapter Seven iii ‘Mainy is not only a river to us, it has saved our lives many times’: State violence, Forced Displacement and Locating Home 158 Introduction Violence and Displacement The day of fire and black smoke Gender division of work Abandoning children Everyday life in forest Bodily memory Memory and Artefacts Conclusion Chapter Eight Lost lives, lives in the Camps and beyond 181 Introduction Camp Life Dwelling and difficulties Education Health Adaptation, Assertion and Changes Challenges of Survival Camp Management Identity Crisis Organisation and Identity: Overcoming and Reconfiguring Child Adoption Benefits of being a refugee Conclusion Chapter Nine "I am always frightened because I am a Chakma Woman": Semantic Politics of Indigeneity and 'Indigenous' Women’s Encounter 200 Introduction Debating Indigeneity Being 'indigenous' and the politics of indigeneity iv UN Understanding of Indigeneity: An analysis Construction of Indigeneity in Bangladesh. ‘Tribe’ ‘Adibasi’ ‘Upajati’ ‘Khudro Nri-goshthhi’ Small Ethnic Groups Minorities Jumma Gendered Trajectory from ‘Jumma’ to being 'Indigenious’ Conclusion: The Indigeneity Question 214 Kalpana’s Warriors: An Exhibition Remapping ‘The Indigeniety Question’: Contours of violence and resistance Paradoxes of women’s agency Bibliography 233 Glossary of local terms 264 v List of Photos and Illustrations Photo 1: Two posters on display at the Bangladesh Embassy in Lisbon 4 Photo 2: Indigenous peoples of Bangladesh in stamps 5 Photo 3: Map of Bangladesh 10 Photo 4: A scanned copy of a secret letter issued by the CHT Affairs Ministry on December 21, 2009 26 Photo 5: Map of Khagrachari district 59 Photo 6: Sixth century Portuguese map 71 Photo 7: Kalpana’s abduction, an illustration by Pragyan Chakma 103 Photo 8: An ethnic Chakma soldier patrols a Chakma village 127 Photo 9: A mapping of the contested relationships among different agents in the CHT 144 Photo 10: ‘Aarong’ used the indigenous theme in their poster ‘Tribal Craze’ 200 Photo 11: The portraits of Kalpana’s Warriors 215 vi List of Tables Table 1: Number of the respondents 60 Table 2: Amount of Land 61 Table 3: Educational Status. 61 Table 4: Profession 62 Table 5: Marital Status 62 Table 6: Changed Names of Various Places in Khagrachari 123 vii Copyright The copyright of this thesis belongs to the author. No quotation from the thesis should be published without the author’s prior written consent and information copied from it should be acknowledged. viii Acknowledgments This study would never have been possible without extensive aid and support – both mental and material – from various institutions and people at different stages in the process. My most profound debt of gratitude is to the people and friends (I cannot mention their name for reasons of security) of my field areas, my host families, especially Mashima. Foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors Dr. Nayanika Mookherjee and Dr. Stephen M. Lyon without whom I could never have completed the research. From the beginning, their unhesitating support and friendliness has encouraged and motivated me to continue this project. Their comments, advice and criticism have enabled me to clarify both my writing and the analysis of the data. My special thanks to Dhana Hugues for her feedbacks on my draft thesis. I owe special