Urgent Alert: Violent attacks on Indigenous Jummo People in Bangladesh

Urgent Alert: Violent attacks on Indigenous Jummo People in Bangladesh

Written on 19 September 2024. Posted in News

Urgent Alert: IWGIA Condemns Violent Attacks on Indigenous Jummo People in Dighinala, Khagrachari District, Bangladesh, and Urges Immediate Protection from the Interim Government of Bangladesh

IWGIA is deeply concerned about the ongoing violent attacks on the Indigenous Jummo peoples in Dighinala Upazila, Khagrachari district, Bangladesh. According to local sources, several people have been injured, and numerous homes and businesses belonging to the Jummo community have been burned to ashes by Bengali settlers on the evening of 19 September 2024. IWGIA has also received photographic evidence showing Bengali settlers looting and setting fire to Jummo properties, with military personnel present, but failing to intervene.

The violence seems to stem from an incident on 18 September 2024, when a Bengali settler was caught by a mob while attempting to steal a motorbike in the Nowapara area of Khagrachari. The individual, reportedly beaten by the mob, later died^[1]. Abdul Baten Mridha, the Officer in Charge of Khagrachari Police Station, told The Daily Jugantor that the man died after hitting an electric pole while trying to flee^[2]. He further mentioned that the deceased had 14 theft charges and 2 narcotics cases filed against him at the police station^[3]. Whatever the reason and whatever his background, IWGIA strongly condemns the violence resulting in his death.

Without verifying the exact cause of death, Bengali settler organizations began blaming the Indigenous Jummo community and today launched protest processions in various parts of the Khagrachari district against the Jummo. From one of these processions in Dighinala, Bengali settlers started indiscriminately attacking Jummo individuals and setting fire to their homes and businesses in the Dighinala Station area. At the time of writing, many Jummo properties remain ablaze, and the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined.

IWGIA strongly condemns this communal violence. It is completely unjustifiable for Bengali settlers to target the Jummo people and their properties in Dighinala over an incident that occurred in Khagrachari, which is 20 kilometers away.

IWGIA urgently calls on the Interim Government of Bangladesh to take immediate action to halt these communal attacks and hold the Bengali settlers responsible for the violence against the Jummo people accountable. We also demand an investigation into the role of the military personnel who failed to prevent the attacks and call for the demilitarization of the area to ensure the safety of the Indigenous population. Additionally, we request a thorough investigation into the death of the Bengali individual, with those responsible brought to justice.

IWGIA is also alarmed to learn that internet connectivity in the area has been cut, a tactic used previously by the former authoritarian government during recent student movements. We urge the restoration of communication channels and the immediate protection of the rights and safety of the Indigenous Jummo people.

^[1]https://www.channel24bd.tv/chittagong24/article/230102

^[2]https://www.jugantor.com/country-news/853823

^[3] Ibid

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