Removal of 'indigenous' graffiti: 9 hurt in attack in front of NCTB building

At least nine people were injured allegedly in an attack in front of the NCTB building today (15 January) during the gatherings of two groups protesting in favour and against, respectively, the removal of a graffiti with the word "indigenous" in textbooks.

The incident took place in front of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) building in Motijheel, Dhaka, today (15 January).

An organisation called "Students for Sovereignty" surrounded the NCTB building this morning with five-point demands, including punishment for those involved in the inclusion of the word "indigenous" in the textbooks, and the addition of a fictional graffiti of a united India against the July mass uprising.

On the other hand, a group of people from small ethnic groups under the banner of "Aggrieved Indigenous Students-People" went to hold a programme in front of the NCTB, demanding the reinstatement of the graffiti with the word "indigenous" in textbooks.

People under the banner of "Students for Sovereignty" were already stationed in front of the NCTB when the "Agitated Indigenous Students and People" went there at around 12:15pm.

Both the programmes were already scheduled. However, clashes broke out between the two factions and many were injured.

Dhaka University student Soisanu Marma told The Business Standard, "People under the banner Student for Sovereignty attacked us. Police also showed negligence in duty. At least 20 people, including journalists, were injured in the incident. Of them, seven or eight people were severely injured."

Nine people were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said Md Faruk, in charge of DMCH Police Outpost.

They are being treated at the emergency department but not all of them are of ethnic minorities, he added.

Of the nine admitted to DMCH, Rupaya Shrestha Tanchangya is a member of the executive committee of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said the organisation's spokesperson Umama Fatema in a post on Facebook. She said that Rupaya Shrestha Tanchangya was seriously injured in the attack by Students for Sovereignty.

As the situation worsened, police went to the spot to disperse the crowd and break up the scuffle.

As of 1:30pm, the people under the banner of Students for Sovereignty were heading towards the Shapla Chattar area of Motijheel. The people under the banner of the aggrieved indigenous students were leaving the scene.

One of the injured, Donwai Mro, a student of the Criminology Department of Dhaka University, said, "The role of the police [during the clash] was disgraceful. Rather than stopping the attacks, they made the situation worse."

A graffiti with the word Adibashi (indigenous) was added to the back cover of the Bangla Language Grammar and Structure textbook for grades 9 and 10. But in protest of this, Students for Sovereignty started a movement demanding its removal.

Then the government decided to remove it from the PDF version of the textbook and added a new graffiti.

However, Students for Sovereignty has also demanded the dismissal of Rakhal Raha, alias Sajjad, for adding the previous graffiti and for identifying and punishing the people involved.

In a programme organised in front of NCTB today, Students for Sovereignty joint convener and Dhaka University student Muhammad Yakub Majumdar raised five demands. The demands include that no speech should be made, no books should be printed, no writing should be done, and no dramas, movies or stories should be created addressing non-Bangalis (ethnic minorities) as indigenous.

Bengalis should have constitutional recognition as the only indigenous people of Bangladesh. A notification should be issued declaring calling and propagating ethnic minorities as "indigenous" as a treasonous crime.

Students for Sovereignty convener Muhammad Ziaul Haque said in the programme that the word indigenous is not a racial identity. Therefore, opposing the word indigenous does not constitute racism.

On the other hand, the aggrieved ethnic minority students and the public are demanding that the previous graffiti be reinstated in the textbooks.

Alik Mree, who went to take part in the programme in front of NCTB, told Prothom Alo around 12pm today that NCTB had added graffiti with the word indigenous in the textbooks. A "mob" protested the decision. Later, the graffiti with the word indigenous was removed.

Dipayan Khisa, a central member of the Bangladesh Adibashi Forum, said, "It was an attack by a 'mob' force. They had already taken up positions there with sticks. Twelve of them were injured in the attack."

He demanded an immediate investigation into the incident, the arrest and trial of those involved.