Tales from the hills: Empowering Chakma and Tripura youth through storytelling
Published under Unesco’s ‘Hooked on Peace’ project in collaboration with The Asia Foundation Bangladesh, the book features stories written In Bangla by Chakma and Tripura youth, and translated into three languages
The fall of Hasina's authoritarian regime and the subsequent formation of the interim government has renewed the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Bangladeshis to shape a better future for their country. Conversations about corruption, reform and equality for all dominate public discourse.
However, despite calls for greater inclusivity and justice, the voices of marginalised communities often remain on the margins of these debates, their voices unheard in the larger narrative of progress.
In order to bring these important voices to the forefront, Unesco's 'Hooked on Peace' project partnered with The Asia Foundation Bangladesh to publish a book titled, 'Of roots and heritage - Tales from the hills: Chakma and Tripura communities in Bangladesh.'
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The book showcases a collection of stories written in Bangla by the youth from these communities and translated into three languages: Chakma, Tripura and English. It was edited by author Rifat Munim.
"It was very important to me to centre the people who we wanted to help. I painstakingly tried to make sure that as Bangalis, we were not about their issues on their behalf but that we were letting them do the talking." Rifat Munim, the editor of the book
The book launch event was hosted by Unesco on 27 February at the International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka. This important event aimed to bring together a panel of experts from Chakma and Tripura communities to speak on the pertinent issues of indigenous language preservation and empowering today's youth to share their own stories.
The event also brought together all the authors to share an excerpt from their respective stories and talk a little bit about themselves, as well as to celebrate their momentous achievements.
The aim of the project
The project intended to encourage young people from indigenous communities to not only be curious and knowledgeable about their surroundings but also provide them the tools to understand culture, the changes happening around them and what they want to protect.
Dr Susan Vize, Unesco representative to Bangladesh said, "This project is not just about writing stories. It is about capacity building."
When the project first started, the idea was to highlight indigenous people and their lives, and after much deliberation, Unesco decided that the best way to empower indigenous communities would be to let them be the masters of their own stories.
Rifat Munim, the editor of the book and mentor to the indigenous writers for the project, said, "It was very important to me to centre the people who we wanted to help. I painstakingly tried to make sure that as Bangalis, we were not about their issues on their behalf but that we were letting them do the talking."
The belief was that if they could find writers from Chakma and Tripura communities and taught them the techniques of writing, their aspirations would be reflected in their words.
To that end, sustainability was also an important goal. By providing the authors training in writing, they have created 20 new writers who can go on to write for other projects and other books, which would not be the case without proper training.
Celebration of language
Dr Susan explains, "This is a great way to celebrate young people and teach them to be the guardians of their own languages."
The celebration of diversity of language was apparent throughout the event. The organisers wanted to provide a platform for indigenous youth to record and share their stories through storytelling, but they also wanted these stories to reach as wide an audience as possible.
As such, the decision was taken to translate the writing into not only the local language of the Tripura and Chakma people, but also into English and Bangla, ensuring that it was possible for the entire population to pick up the book.
However, the event also did not shy away from the difficulties of preserving the languages of indigenous peoples. Panelist Jhimit Jhimit Chakma, president of Jum Aesthetic Council, as well Rifat Munim, remarked how ironic it was that despite being a celebration of indigenous languages, the stories were originally written in Bangla and then translated to Chakma and Tripura languages.
This was because many indigenous youth are more familiar with Bangla or English than their mother tongues, due to the effects of colonialism. However, Jhimit Chakma was positive that this was just the beginning and one day the new crop of authors would be able to write books in their own languages.
After the panelists shared their own life stories and feedback, the young authors took centre stage as they stood on the podium and reflected on their journeys and experiences writing for the project. They also read out excerpts of their stories for the audience.
The event concluded with a celebration of the authors as they received certificates for their contributions, with a promise to continue their efforts to fight for their rights and languages.
