After weeks of late night meetings, weeks of errands in and around the city, and weeks of wringing our brains dry for ideas, the dedicated team at Indigenous Exclusive successfully arranged our first in-person event in Dhaka on the first of October, Saturday at Panthapath’s famed Drik Gallery. We especially thank Drik Gallery for helping us host this event.
In partnership with YCEP (strategic partner), Sabangee (merchandise partner), Hebaang (food partner), “In a Talk with Raja Devasish Roy: Exploring Roots with Indigenous Youths” had an enthusiastic number of participants from all parts of Dhaka. Aside from the key speaker Raja Devasish Roy Wangza, Chakma Circle Chief, the esteemed panel speakers included researcher and writer Myat Moe Khaing, activist Reng Young Mro and professional boxer Sura Krishna Chakma who graced the event with their presence.
Following a brief introduction from everyone present, speeches from our panel speakers commenced. Reng Young Mro eloquently spoke of the many sorrows and plights of the minority communities in CHT. This was in light of the land dispute and several construction projects actively destroying the homes, livelihoods and biodiversity of the areas in the name of tourism, development and military training. His spirited attack on the general romanticisation of the Hill Tracts, all while hiding the heinous acts going on behind the scenes, was notable.
Myat Moe Khaing delivered her speech on behalf of the indigenous persons in the urban areas and their own frustrations with indigenous identity, individuality and expression in cities which were largely unsafe for such comfort. She also highlighted issues of indigenous women, such as the fetishisation of their exoticness and the pressures around reaching marriageable age.
Being an athlete, Sura Krishna Chakma shared his own journey of how his career as a boxer was shaped, and the discrimination he had faced while slowly climbing up to become Bangladesh’s best boxer. To him, victory is not his alone, but of his whole indigenous community, and he mentions this as an inspiration to do well.
Accompanying these was a well-made, stirring and insightful documentary film by Zopari Lushai, centred around the loss of jhum fields and the consequences it presents for the ethnic minority residents, featuring gorgeous cinematography.
As the saying “saving the best for last” goes, after a small break for refreshments which were ethnic snack items from Hebaang, Raja Devasish Roy finally took to the stage.
The King’s oratory skills, polished over the years, were equal parts humorous and magnetic. While maintaining a cheerful and down-to-earth persona, he dived deep to touch on topics of intersectionality, misunderstandings of cultures, the sociopolitical constructs of race and ethnicity, and expanded on what it means to be indigenous.
Raja also sheds light on the customary laws of the indigenous peoples which are, at the base, secular and community-based rather than religious. This recognition of multicultural collective identity as indigenous, instead of individuality, is what he believes will drive society forward. He also advocates for the adoption of indigenous people’s concepts of nature and collaboration with their practices, in order to preserve the current dying ecology of areas such as the Hill Tracts.
Team Indigenous Exclusive with Raja Devasish Roy
A corner with the traditional ornaments. Courtesy : Sabangee
Closing Ceremony speech by Arjyashree Chakma, founder of Indigenous Exclusive
Throughout the segments, we let the stage be open for the audience to freely ask their questions, and even add their own opinions into the discussion. For this reason, the event was engaging, educational and spurred on out-of-the-box thinking from people of different walks of life, yet still united under the common experiences of them as indigenous peoples.
Here are some fantastic captures of the day, courtesy of our photographers Sanjoy Mitra Tonchangya and Purno Basu Tanchangya.
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