Security Perceptions and Practices of the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh

This paper illustrates the insecurity perceptions and security practices of the Paharis, an indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. It adopts an interpretive ethnographic approach in which it posits, based on fieldwork experiences, that the security perceptions of the C...

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Main Author: Bhumitra Chakma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Arnold Bergstraesser Institute 2019-03-01
Series:International Quarterly for Asian Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/iqas/article/view/8704
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author Bhumitra Chakma
author_facet Bhumitra Chakma
author_sort Bhumitra Chakma
collection DOAJ
description This paper illustrates the insecurity perceptions and security practices of the Paharis, an indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. It adopts an interpretive ethnographic approach in which it posits, based on fieldwork experiences, that the security perceptions of the CHT indigenous people are primarily formed by the experiences of marginalisation. Marginalisation has resulted mainly from the assimilationist nation-building policies and ill-conceived development projects pursued by first Pakistan and later Bangladesh, which have not only threatened the Paharis’ group identity but have also generated threats of violence in their everyday lives. The macro-level threat to identity and the micro-level threat of violence in everyday life operate in parallel and in an intertwined fashion. To cope with these threats, the Paharis have employed an array of different strategies at both macro and micro levels, which are analysed in this paper.
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spelling doaj.art-b25465a8ab7544139661bbcbd83b5d2c2022-12-22T03:17:46ZengArnold Bergstraesser InstituteInternational Quarterly for Asian Studies2566-686X2566-68782019-03-01491-210.11588/iqas.2018.1-2.8704Security Perceptions and Practices of the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in BangladeshBhumitra Chakma This paper illustrates the insecurity perceptions and security practices of the Paharis, an indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. It adopts an interpretive ethnographic approach in which it posits, based on fieldwork experiences, that the security perceptions of the CHT indigenous people are primarily formed by the experiences of marginalisation. Marginalisation has resulted mainly from the assimilationist nation-building policies and ill-conceived development projects pursued by first Pakistan and later Bangladesh, which have not only threatened the Paharis’ group identity but have also generated threats of violence in their everyday lives. The macro-level threat to identity and the micro-level threat of violence in everyday life operate in parallel and in an intertwined fashion. To cope with these threats, the Paharis have employed an array of different strategies at both macro and micro levels, which are analysed in this paper. https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/iqas/article/view/8704PaharisChittagong Hill TractsBangladeshindigenous peoplecritical security studies
spellingShingle Bhumitra Chakma
Security Perceptions and Practices of the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
International Quarterly for Asian Studies
Paharis
Chittagong Hill Tracts
Bangladesh
indigenous people
critical security studies
title Security Perceptions and Practices of the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
title_full Security Perceptions and Practices of the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
title_fullStr Security Perceptions and Practices of the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed Security Perceptions and Practices of the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
title_short Security Perceptions and Practices of the Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
title_sort security perceptions and practices of the indigenous people of the chittagong hill tracts in bangladesh
topic Paharis
Chittagong Hill Tracts
Bangladesh
indigenous people
critical security studies
url https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/iqas/article/view/8704
work_keys_str_mv AT bhumitrachakma securityperceptionsandpracticesoftheindigenouspeopleofthechittagonghilltractsinbangladesh