Hill Voice, August 23, 2025, Dhaka: On August 23, 2025, at 3:00 PM, a protest march and cultural gathering was held in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh, organized by indigenous students, youth, cultural and progressive organizations, against the brutal attacks on Santals in Gobindaganj, Gaibandha and Tanore, Rajshahi, the conspiracy to seize land of Garos in Sherpur, the conspiracy to cut and evict Khasias from Panjum in Sylhet, and the release of innocent indigenous Bawm people, including innocent women and children, who have been imprisoned in false cases for a long time.

The event was attended by Rajekuzzamar Ratan, Deputy General Secretary, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal; Dipayan Khisa, Member, Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti; Ripon Chandra Banai, Member, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum; Bithi Ghosh, Somogeet; Ujjwal Azim, Sports, Education and Cultural Secretary, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum; Hiron Mitra Chakma, Information and Publicity Secretary, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum; Khokon Switon Murmu, International Affairs Secretary, Jatiya Adivasi Parishad; Philemon Baske, President, Sahebganj Bagdafarm Land Restoration Action Committee; Jagadish Chakma, President, Dhaka Metropolitan Branch of Parbatya Chattagram Pahari Chhatra Parishad and many other leaders.

The event was moderated by Tony Chiran, Vice President of Bangladesh Indigenous Youth Forum, and was presided over by the organization’s President Antony Rema and the keynote address was delivered by Tumpa Hajong, a member of Bangladesh Indigenous Youth Forum.

Rajekuzzamar Ratan said in his speech, “The old trend of attacks has started again. Has the dream of a new Bangladesh that we are talking about really come true? Why do the indigenous people have to take to the streets for constitutional recognition? Can’t our state fulfill this humanitarian responsibility by releasing the Bawm indigenous people who have been detained without trial for five hundred days?” In Sylhet’s Khasia Punji, their only source of income, Panjum, was cut off. In Gobindaganj, the land of the Santals was seized. Can’t our state give fair justice to all these human rights violations?

Dipayan Khisa said, “The list of reasons for which we are standing in Shahbagh is very long. This list should not exist, because it was the absence of these lists that led to the uprising to eliminate discrimination in July. This means it should be understood that this uprising is only for those who sit at the top of the state. He commented that this uprising is not for the common people of the country, starting with the indigenous people.

Referring to the issue of keeping ordinary people of the Bawm community in jail without trial, Mr. Khisa asked, ‘Home Affairs Advisor, have you even once visited our Bawm people? Isn’t it the responsibility of the Home Ministry that innocent Bawm people die without trial in jail?’

Ripon Chandra Banai, in his speech, raised a question, mentioning the denial of the role and identity of the indigenous people in the July Charter and the fact that the major political parties of Bangladesh do not want to accept pluralism.

Bithi Ghosh said in her speech that military rule was in force in the Chittagong Hill Tracts during the Awami League regime and that the same trend is being followed in today’s Bangladesh. During the Awami League period in Gobindaganj, the houses of the Santals were set on fire by the police, and in today’s Bangladesh, plans are underway to evict the Santals in the same way. She asked, is this just a change of power in the name of eliminating discrimination?

Hiron Mitra Chakma said that many of those who are in advisory positions today have always expressed solidarity with the indigenous peoples in the past on the streets and in the movement for these demands. But we can see now that they have not taken any action on these issues. So, should we understand that they have moved far away from those logical demands? Are they also deceiving us?

Khokon Switon Murmu said in his speech, the discrimination against the indigenous peoples is increasing day by day. The expectations of the general public and indigenous people after the July uprising have not been fulfilled, but rather they are being pushed further back. We cannot see the reflection of the dream of pluralism. Starting from the July Charter to the reform commission and consensus commission for state reforms, the opinion of any organization representing indigenous peoples has not been taken.

In his speech, Philemon Baske said, the attacks and cases that we were subjected to during the previous government’s tenure have not changed even now. In the meantime, land grabbers attacked and seriously injured three Santals there. There has been a threat to cut the power line from the rural electricity grid, which if done, we will not be able to irrigate our crops properly. This is an attack on our livelihood.

At this time, Somogeet, Krishnakoli, Bangla Five, Tuhin Kanti Das, F Minor, The Ravuga, Hivkl, Thiam Bawm, Usaising Marma and other cultural groups and artists expressed solidarity in the protest cultural performance.

The following demands were made in the protest procession and protest cultural gathering:

1. Land grabbers and terrorists involved in brutal attacks on indigenous peoples must be arrested immediately and brought to justice.

2. People of Bawm indigenous community, including innocent women, children and students who have been imprisoned for a long time in false cases, must be released immediately.

3. The conspiracy to cut off the Panjum, seize land and evict the Garo indigenous community in Sherpur and the Khasia community in Sylhet must be stopped.

4. The indigenous communities living in Bangladesh must be recognized in the constitution.

5. The CHT Accord must be implemented immediately and fully to protect the human rights of the residents of the hilly areas.

6. Separate ministries and land commissions must be formed to establish the rights of the indigenous peoples of the plains and to permanently resolve the discrimination.