20/08/2025
âIn the changed political context, collective punishment of the Bawm community continuesâ
Lalrithang Bawm, the office secretary of the Bangladesh Studentâs Federation (Ganasanhati Andolon) and chairperson of the Bawm Students Association, talks to New Age about his violent encounters with the police during the July mass uprising and the continued sufferings of the Bawm community in post-uprising Bangladesh.
New Age: You were injured during the July Uprising. Please share your experience.
New Age: You are involved with the Bangladesh Studentsâ Federation (Gansanhati Andolon) as well as the Bawm Studentâs Association. You have been working in your capacity as a student coordinator for the release of the innocent Bawm people, including women and children, in jail since April 2024. In spite of their innocence, the Bawm citizens are still imprisoned even after the change of power that had taken place after the July Uprising. Does this action of the state indicate an inclusive future?
Lalrithang Bawm: The government will prevent all reported criminal activities of the Kuki-Chin National Front. That is rightfully expected of the government. Since 2022, however, a policy of collective punishment is being applied in the name of crime deterrence to make the lives of innocent Bawm people in Bandarban a living hell. They have become victims of mass arrests, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances while all sorts of punitive measures have been imposed to disrupt their livelihoods. Many of the community have been forced to migrate to neighbouring India and Myanmar just to avoid such persecution. They have to obtain permission from army officials stationed at nearby camps to sell their own crops in the market; they need permission even to buy groceries and medicine.
What is noteworthy, however, is that the scale and scope of the crackdown have taken a new turn centring on the bank robberies in Ruma and Thanchi in April 2024. Bawm students, pregnant women and children were arbitrarily arrested during the mass raids conducted in the region. Just within three months, in MayâJuly 2025, three Bawm men died in custody. Their families allege that the men did not receive proper medical care while in prison. We know that all custodial deaths have to be investigated in accordance with the law. Has there been any investigation into the deaths of the Bawm men? The responsibility for their death in custody without any trial lies solely with the Bengali state.
My point is that if anyone in the Bawm community is guilty of criminal activities, they need to be brought to book. But it must happen following due process. There has been no progress in the cases against the Bawm people who have been imprisoned. Even those under trial have basic human rights, which are being violated at every step. Moreover, the law has special provisions with regard to the bail of women and children. But they apparently do not apply to Bawm women.
Since the July Uprising, a number of known criminals and militants have been released from prisons. There were huge outcries on social media about it, questions and concerns were raised. On the other hand, innocent Bawm women and student continue to languish in jail. I repeat, criminals must be held accountable in the eyes of the law. But the repression against innocent Bawm citizens must stop. As long as the state is deaf to the rights of indigenous people and as long as repression against them is perpetuated, no new political system will ever signal true reform or change
News link:- https://www.newagelongreads.com/post/in-the-changed-political-context-collective-punishment-of-the-bawm-community-continues?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR7xpWCsFxaHWLompdGARRVY9qTyYaylUxqwCm06oYWM6IQhjbERMXWMTSp9BQ_aem_2BIIZHF2q8ZWykC1xtMvOg
