Naima Onamika
Commissioning Editor, The Oniket Bulletin
The indigenous peoples of Bangladesh form an essential part of the country’s history, culture, and social diversity. More than fifty indigenous communities, including the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Garo, Santal, and Mro, together represent a population of several million. Although these communities are spread across the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, and other regions, and although they enjoy constitutional guarantees of equal rights as citizens, their representation and protection within the judicial and legal system remain extremely limited.
While the Constitution of Bangladesh promises equality and justice for all citizens, indigenous communities continue to face structural discrimination at multiple levels of the justice system. Their social and cultural realities are not adequately reflected in the national legal framework, which often makes access to justice difficult.
Crisis of Recognition for Traditional Laws and Justice Systems
Indigenous societies have long practiced traditional laws and dispute resolution systems that play an important role in maintaining local social stability. These include the customary practices of the Chakma and Marma communities, the matrilineal inheritance system of the Garo, and the panchayat-based dispute resolution system of the Santal community. These systems are deeply embedded in their social life.
However, these traditional legal systems have no effective or formal recognition within the national judicial framework. As a result, when disputes reach formal courts, indigenous communities are often placed within a legal system shaped mainly by the historical and cultural experience of the majority Bengali population. Their social realities are frequently overlooked in judicial proceedings.
Language, Culture, and Barriers to Accessing Justice
One of the most significant barriers to justice is the linguistic and cultural divide. The native language of many indigenous citizens is not Bangla. Yet court proceedings, legal documentation, and judicial communication are conducted almost entirely in Bangla.
In addition, many judges, lawyers, and relevant officials are not sufficiently trained in the social realities of indigenous communities, their traditional land rights, or the provisions of the 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. As a result, formal legal equality does not always translate into equal access to justice in practice.
Lack of Representation in the Legal Profession
The presence of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh’s legal profession and judiciary remains extremely limited. Educational and economic inequalities play a major role in this situation. Due to long standing limited access to quality education in hill and remote regions, many students are unable to pursue higher education. Even those who study law often face disadvantages due to limited professional networks, financial constraints, and lack of social capital.
In most law school curricula, indigenous rights, customary law, and the specific legal realities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are treated as marginal topics. As a result, many future lawyers and judges graduate without adequate understanding of the country’s multicultural legal landscape. At the same time, there are no strong measures to ensure diversity in appointments to the High Court or the wider judiciary. Consequently, senior levels of the justice system remain largely dominated by the same social and professional groups.
Social and Human Cost
The consequences of this lack of representation are deeply felt at both individual and community levels. Many talented indigenous law graduates are unable to develop their careers due to limited professional opportunities. Indigenous women face compounded discrimination, facing barriers both as members of an ethnic minority and as women. These are not isolated incidents of failure. They reflect a structural reality in which inclusion and representation have not yet become institutional priorities.
Necessary Reforms and Policy Initiatives
Experts suggest several key measures to improve the situation. First, affirmative action measures for indigenous candidates should be considered in judicial appointments and judicial service examinations. Second, university law curricula should make it mandatory to include indigenous rights, customary law, and the provisions of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. Third, there is an urgent need to establish linguistically and culturally competent legal aid centres to ensure indigenous communities can access legal advice and support without barriers.
Most importantly, traditional legal systems and dispute resolution mechanisms should be formally recognised within an integrated legal framework. This would both respect local culture and strengthen public trust in the justice system.
Conclusion
The true effectiveness of any judicial system lies in its inclusiveness. If any community is excluded from justice due to language, culture, representation, or structural inequality, the system cannot fully achieve its purpose. Bangladesh already has the constitutional foundation, administrative capacity, and institutional framework required to ensure justice for all. What is needed now is strong political will and policy commitment to treat the inclusion of indigenous peoples not as a special concession, but as a fundamental responsibility of a democratic state. To build a truly just society, the justice system must be equally accessible and representative for every citizen of the country.
