Exploring the Roles of Grassroots Organizations as Potential Agency: The Case of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region of Bangladesh represents the close combination of the settlements of several indigenous communities, and the communities have the specific socio-economic tradition; the influence of colonial administration, national bureaucratic domination, neo-liberal promise, and frequent policy regulations in the issues relating to their right to the ownership of land. Considering the historical conflicts and reality, the area is composed of various voluntary and profit-based organizations that aim to provide livelihood and capacity enhancement support to the co-existing indigenous peoples. From the ground of the structural development initiatives and learning, the study examines the pattern of ongoing grassroots organizations led by indigenous people in the CHT, their limitations, and the initiatives taken by them. The paper aims to analyze the role of micro-organizational development in addressing the socio-political emphasis in the CHT during the study period (June 2018 to December 2019). Although the studied organizations are concerned with particular social needs and most of them are in the legal framework, the internal network has several concerns, including rights of land, language, empowerment, poverty, and gender, religion, and settlement issues in the CHT Adivasi context. The study was conducted in three CHT districts–Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachhari–taking two upazilas (sub-districts) from each district. The study follows qualitative analysis; the grassroots organizations have been categorized on a sector-wise basis to explain the needs and functions of the organizations. Moreover, the study proposes the possible alternatives in the cohesion to the formation of inter-ethnic identity by analyzing the activities of the small-scale indigenous organizations in the CHT.