Cultural Survival strongly condemns the violent attack on Indigenous students and Indigenous Peoples’ rights activists’ protests on January 15, 2025, against the removal of the term “Adivasi” (Indigenous in Bangla) from school textbooks in Bangladesh.

Three days before the attack, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) altered the covers of Grade 9 and 10 textbooks, removing the term “Adivasi.” Social and news organizations state that the decision followed pressure from a group called “Students for Sovereignty,” which argues that recognizing Indigeneity threatens Bangladesh’s territorial integrity. Reports also suggest this group advocates for terms like “Upojati” or “Khudro Nrigoshti” (small ethnic communities), undermining the internationally recognized collective rights of Indigenous Peoples. Allegedly, this is the same organization that carried out the aggression precisely in front of the NCTB office in Motijheel, in Dhaka.

Following the removal of the term “Adivasi,” on January 15, Indigenous students protested and asserted that erasing their Indigenous identity violates Bangladesh’s multi-ethnic democratic values and human rights obligations. They have also demanded constitutional recognition and protections for their history, culture, and unique heritage.

Cultural Survival urges Bangladesh’s interim government to uphold the country’s commitments to international human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights mechanisms and declarations to safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ and communities’ safety and integrity, as their demand for recognition within Bangladesh’s educational system. Immediate actions must be taken to hold perpetrators accountable and to prevent further discrimination and violence against Indigenous communities.

Photo by Anne Delaporte, 2012.