Southern Papers Series/ Working Papers #26. Indigenous identity disputes in democratic Bangladesh

Bangladesh is being led by the monolithic nationalism and identity. Though some fundamental political shifts have taken place in the state, and the indigenous identity has been struggling with broken promises. Indigenous peoples are living with denial of their human rights and identity. In fact, diverse issues have been pertaining with this issue. The national policy documents of Bangladesh use different terms to identify the indigenous peoples and the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh have been struggling for the recognition as “indigenous peoples” or “adivasi”, yet it has been continuously denied by the state. A dominant assimilationalist approach is revealed by the nationalistic history of Bangladesh. Thus, the monolithic formation of nation state, hegemonic cultural perceptions of national identity and trends to undermining the identity are revealed out in this voyage. But the demand for indigenous identity endorses with translational activism, that has power to penetrate local experiences.