test
Search publications, data, projects and authors

Article

French

ID: <

10.4000/eps.9667

>

·

DOI: <

10.4000/eps.9667

>

Where these data come from
From the invisibility of the Bangladesh Jummas to their identification as indigenous peoples, how does it place in this process the constructed representations of both the Hill Tracts territory and its inhabitants?

Abstract

The Jummas who live in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh went to war against the army of this country from 1978 to 1997. They still claim today for the agreements that ended the war to be implemented. They see themselves as an indigenous people and some of their leaders play an active role in this movement at the UN, hoping there for a new leverage to have their rights recognized.The article questions the process through which various people, called Hill Tribes by the English in the time of colonization, gradually found their unity under the name of Jummas before considering themselves today as indigenous people. To answer this question, the article is based on the analysis of official documents (legal texts, censuses, etc.) and on a review of the bibliography on this subject. It was thus possible to draw the evolution over two centuries, of the forms of domination exercised over the Hill People and their territory by the authorities of the British Empire (1860-1947), of Pakistan (1947-1971) and then of Bangladesh. The article shows how, at each stage, Hill Tracts populations, considered negligible, became invisible and how the representations built by the dominant powers in the territory of the Hill Tracts weighed heavy on their destiny.In these contexts of domination, the solution for some of them has been exile (India, Burma). Others have tried to resist. Traditional leaders and political movements have attempted, with limited success, to make the voice of the Hill People heard until, when faced with the grabbing of their land, they came to an armed uprising (1977- 1997). It was at that time that the Hill People built their unity as Jummas and gained some visibility recently strengthened by their involvement in the indigenous peoples movement.

Your Feedback

Please give us your feedback and help us make GoTriple better.
Fill in our satisfaction questionnaire and tell us what you like about GoTriple!