Bangladesh
Condensed from Analysis on the Situation of
Indigenous Peoples Customary Land and Resource
Rights in Bangladesh by S. Tripura, S. K. Ripa, and
T. Sumaiya of Association for Land Reform and
Development (ALRD). For more details of the case,
contact: alrd@agni.com.
An indigenous woman collecting firewood for the forest in CHT.
T
o the indigenous peoples (IPs) of Bangladesh,
land means more than just a natural resource
from which they derive their livelihood. Land
is also an inextricable part of their identity and
culture, as IPs have a deeply felt spiritual and
emotional kinship with the earth and all of its
fruits. Indeed, long before the arrival of the
colonial powers and the implementation of
formal ownership structures, the indigenous
photo by Supriyo Chakma
14
Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC)