The Bangladesh Adivasi Forum on 10 August 2025 called on the Bangladeshi government to take concrete steps to protect the constitutional, cultural, land, and legal rights of the country's indigenous communities, warning that numerous groups in both the hill regions and plains face serious threats to their very existence. The appeal was made at a public rally and discussion meeting held at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, marking International Indigenous Peoples' Day.

Key Demands at the Rally

The event brought together academicians, lawyers, human rights and women's rights activists, writers, and researchers. Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of the Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, addressed the gathering and underscored the scale of the crisis. “For three decades now, we have been campaigning for indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination. More than four million indigenous people live in Bangladesh. We believe the Bangladeshi state must grant them constitutional recognition to protect their language, identity, land, culture, and self-identity,” he said.

Drong also stressed that linguistic and cultural plurality is a national asset. “The coexistence of different ethnic communities is what makes Bangladesh rich in linguistic, cultural, and traditional diversity — and that diversity is our country’s beauty and strength. To protect indigenous peoples’ language, culture, and heritage, we must stop seizing and evicting them from their land in the name of development,” he added.

55 Years On: Rights Still Unmet

Former Bangladeshi parliamentarian and Vice President of Parbatya Chittagong Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), Ushatan Talukder, said that despite being an integral part of Bangladesh’s diversity, indigenous communities continue to face discrimination over constitutional recognition, land rights, language, culture, and identity. He noted that even after 55 years of independence, many of their fundamental rights remain unmet, according to reports in the Dhaka Tribune.

A written statement from the Forum’s president — read out by PCJSS staff member Trijinad Chakma in the president’s absence — drew attention to the situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), where communities reportedly face land dispossession and daily human rights violations under what the Forum described as “military rule and state oppression.”

CHT Accord: Nearly 29 Years, Still Unimplemented

The statement highlighted that the CHT Accord, signed on 2 December 1997 to resolve the long-standing problems of hill indigenous peoples, is approaching its 29th anniversary with no full implementation in sight. “The government has shown no real will to fully implement it,” the statement said. For plainland indigenous communities, the situation is described as even more precarious, with reports of eviction, violence against women, discrimination, and impunity pushing them further to the margins.

What the Forum Is Asking For

The Bangladesh Adivasi Forum urged the authorities to grant indigenous peoples constitutional recognition, including the right to self-determination, and to announce a time-bound roadmap for the full and effective implementation of the CHT Accord. It also called for an immediate end to all forms of oppression and persecution against indigenous communities, and demanded the withdrawal of all cases it described as false, filed against community members.

With the CHT Accord nearing three decades without resolution, advocates say the government’s next steps will determine whether Bangladesh’s indigenous communities can reclaim their place in the country’s constitutional framework.