On January 16, 2025, police in Dhaka dispersed a protest by ethnic minority students near the Ministry of Home Affairs, resulting in injuries to several students and a police officer.
The students, claiming themselves as “Adivasi”—a term for indigenous communities in Bangladesh—were marching from the Raju Memorial Sculpture at Dhaka University toward the Secretariat. Their demonstration aimed to protest an attack the previous day by the group “Students for Sovereignty” and to oppose the removal of a symbolic image from the Bengali grammar and composition textbook for ninth and tenth graders.
The contested image depicted a tree with five leaves, each labeled with a term for a religious or ethnic community in Bangladesh: Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, and “Adivasi,” accompanied by the caption “Tearing leaves is prohibited.” Following a protest by Students for Sovereignty on January 12, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) removed the image from the online version of the textbook.
During the January 16 protest, police set up barricades near Shikkha Bhaban to halt the march. When protesters breached the barricades, law enforcement deployed water cannons and sound grenades. As the students continued toward the Secretariat, police initiated a baton charge to disperse the crowd.
A student protester reported, “Members of a settler organization named Students for Sovereignty attacked us yesterday, injuring us cruelly. Our demonstration today is to protest that incident. The police have attacked our peaceful protest and injured many of us.” Shahbagh Police Station Chief Md Rezaul Hossain confirmed the dispersal, stating, “The students were marching towards the Secretariat and the police dispersed them. The students have now left.”
The previous day’s confrontation between Agitated Adivasi Students and Students for Sovereignty in front of the NCTB Building resulted in injuries on both sides. Alik Mro, an organizer for Agitated Adivasi Students, claimed that eleven of their members were injured in the attack. Conversely, Muhammad Ziaul Haque Zia, convenor of Students for Sovereignty, alleged that fourteen of their students were injured by the “tribals.”
The situation underscores ongoing tensions surrounding the representation and rights of indigenous communities in Bangladesh, particularly concerning educational content and recognition.
