When Facts Meet Curiosity

On 24th of January, 2017, the English and Humanities Department of BRAC University arranged the launching ceremony of Dr. Tamina Mahmud Chowdhury's book titled Indigenous Identity in South Asia: Making Claims in the Colonial Chittagong Hill Tracts at its GDLN Centre. Professor Firdous Azim, chairperson of the ENH department, acted as the master of ceremony and along with the author, she introduced four other discussants including journalist and researcher Afsan Chowdhury, professor of anthropology Prashanto Tripura, professor of international relations Amena Mohsin and professor of history Shapon Adnan, who later shared their review upon Dr Tamina's work.

This book sheds light over the condition of the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the colonial era, which lasted from 1860 to 1947. It is an extension of the administrative historian's PhD thesis that she completed from the University of Cambridge, England.

On asking Dr Tamina about what made her write this book, she replied, “Growing up as a Bengali, I have always been curious about our identity and especially about the identity of the large minority group in Chittagong Hill Tracts and why they call themselves indigenous. As a historian, my job is to assist or produce knowledge that furthers our understanding. This book will be a stepping stone towards knowing the history behind this indigenous group of people in the colonial era. As an academic, I have tried to look at their identity  critically.” 

Dr Tamina M. Chowdhury was born in Chittagong. Later, at the age of nine, she along with her family moved to Dhaka. After finishing high school, Dr Tamina attained BA in Political Science from liberal arts institution Sewanee College, and MA in Globalisation and Development from Warwick University. Afterwards, she completed her PhD from the Cambridge University.