Bangladesh

Located in South Asia, Bangladesh shares its borders with India and Myanmar. Evidence of human occupancy in the area surrounding modern-day Bangladesh has been found as far back as the Paleolithic period. Due to its location along the historic Silk Road, the area has been a thriving commercial hub ever since ancient times.

In the beginning:

The Indus Valley civilisation, which flourished there from around 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE, is the earliest known civilisation in the area. The Maurya Empire, founded by Emperor Chandragupta Maurya in the third century BCE, encompassed the territory that is now Bangladesh. The Gupta Empire, which dominated the area from the fourth century until the sixth century CE, succeeded the Maurya Empire.

The Middle Ages:

The 13th century saw the introduction of Islam to Bangladesh, marking the beginning of the country’s medieval period. In 1352, the Bengal Sultanate replaced the Delhi Sultanate as the dominant power in the region. Many historic landmarks from the Bengal Sultanate are still in use today, attesting to the region’s prominence as a cultural and architectural center.

Babur, a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, formed the Mughal Empire in the 16th century and dominated the area. The Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the modern world, is only one example of the Mughal Empire’s architectural prowess.

Under the Crown:

In the 18th century, the region became known as British India as it came under the jurisdiction of the British East India Company. Tea plantations, jute mills, and textile factories were just a few of the many enterprises the British set up in the area. Many of India’s most influential people, including Gandhi and Nehru, were raised in this area, making it a crucial hub in the country’s independence fight.

The Indian Partition:

After British authority in India ended in 1947, the subcontinent was split into the countries of India and Pakistan. East Pakistan was the name given to the section of Pakistan that is now Bangladesh. However, the administration of West Pakistan discriminated against the people of East Pakistan, leading to a rise in hostilities between the two regions.

Independence:

East Pakistanis rose out in rebellion against their West Pakistani rulers in 1971, sparking a bloody struggle for freedom. Over the course of the conflict’s nine months, an estimated three million lives were lost, and countless more were uprooted. Bangladesh achieved its independence from Pakistan in December 1971 after the Pakistani army capitulated.

Post-Independence:

Poverty, corruption, and political instability were just some of the issues Bangladesh had to deal with after gaining independence. Improvements in healthcare, education, and infrastructure have been achieved across the country since then. Poverty, political instability, and the effects of climate change are just a few of the obstacles that the country must to overcome.

Many various cultures and civilizations have left their mark on Bangladesh’s long and illustrious history. There have been many setbacks throughout the country’s history, yet the country has also achieved great strides forward. Today’s Bangladesh is an active and evolving nation with deep cultural roots and bright prospects.

Colonialism, nationalism, religion, and economic inequality have all played roles in shaping Bangladesh’s complicated and multidimensional history of racism. Bangladesh’s other ethnic and religious minorities have also endured institutional prejudice and violence, just like the country’s majority Bengali population has at various moments in history.

Racism in Bangladesh has its origins in the late 18th century, when the British East India Company took control of the region. The British colonial authority used divide and rule strategies, favoring some ethnic and religious groups over others, to keep power in their hands. To avoid the development of a unified Bengali identity that may threaten British control, the British, for instance, favored non-Bengali Muslims over Bengali Hindus and Muslims.

After Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, this legacy of prejudice persisted. Bengali-dominated governing classes maintained their oppression and exploitation of the country’s ethnic and religious minorities, especially in the north and southeast. These places have seen the rise of insurgencies like as the Chakma, Marma, and Tripura because of the government’s biased policies and indifference for minority populations.

The discrimination against the “adivasis” (Bangladesh’s indigenous people) is one of the country’s most glaring examples of racism. About one percent of the population, these communities have endured discrimination, violence, and land grabs at the hands of Bengali settlers and the state’s own security forces. These assaults have on occasion been disguised as counterinsurgency efforts.

The Rohingya people, a Muslim minority mostly located in Rakhine State in Bangladesh’s southeast, are another marginalized population in the country. Despite the Rohingya’s centuries-long presence in the region, successive governments in Burma and Bangladesh have refused to grant them citizenship or any other fundamental rights. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya were forced to migrate to Bangladesh when the Burmese military started a deadly assault on them in 2017. Many refugees in Bangladesh are forced to live in overcrowded, unsanitary camps where they have little to no access to basic necessities like clean water, medical treatment, and food.

Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists are only some of the religious minority who have experienced persecution and violence in Bangladesh. The Christian community has also been a target of extreme organizations, as have Hindu temples and residences. An increase in Islamist extremism has been observed in recent years, with organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam advocating for the implementation of sharia rule and the persecution of religious minorities.

However, despite these obstacles, some work has been done in Bangladesh to address racism and prejudice. An attempt to resolve decades of strife between the Bengali government and indigenous communities in the region was made with the passage of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord in 2010. Land reform, indigenous rights acknowledgment, and the demobilization of rebel organizations were all addressed in the pact. Human rights activists and other members of the civil society have also made efforts to get the word out about the condition of minority groups and to fight for their rights.

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