Identity construction and negotiation: A study on Bangladeshi Chakma community

Abstract

This research investigates how identity construction shapes language maintenance and shift among the Chakma community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region of southeastern Bangladesh. Although Bangla is the official language of Bangladesh and Bengali nationalism dominates public discourse, the Chakma community continues to maintain their language through strategic use in various domains of everyday life. While prior research has examined language shift, forced migration, and the destruction of biodiversity in the CHT, the role of identity construction in language maintenance remains largely unaddressed. This study explores how identity negotiation intersects with language practices amid linguistic imperialism and state policies that frequently marginalize indigenous languages and cultures.

Historically, The CHT region was designated as an “excluded area” by British colonial authorities and later as a “tribal area” under Pakistan’s 1956 Constitution, but Bangladeshi government did not follow the same path (Roy 2000: 47). As an ethnic and linguistic minority, the Chakma face significant challenges in preserving their language and cultural heritage due to cultural marginalization, societal discrimination, forced migration, and state-led linguistic imperialism. These dominant Bengali ideologies and policies have justified displacement and contributed to the erosion of indigenous languages, cultures, and traditional cultivation systems (Chakma & Sultana 2024).

This study employs ethnographic methods, including participant observation and in-depth semi-structured interviews with Chakma community members, to explore how language functions as a site of identity construction and cultural preservation. Archival research complements fieldwork by contextualizing the Chakma’s historical experiences within the broader political history of Bangladesh.

Preliminary findings suggest that Chakma speakers use their language in home, cooking, religious, and other intimate domains while strategically switching to Bangla in public or formal settings. This code-switching reflects an ongoing negotiation of Indigenous identity. The imperialistic stance of the dominant community is also evident in the labels assigned to indigenous groups—such as Upojati (sub-nation) and Khudro Nri Goshthi (small ethnic community)—whereas the communities self-identify as Adivasi (indigenous). These imposed labels diminish their distinctiveness and reinforce a subordinate status. Instead of acknowledging their indigenous status, state and media discourse persistently use problematic terminology (Partha 2024), shaping identity construction and forcing communities to continuously negotiate their place in the nation.

This study contributes to sociolinguistic and theoretical scholarship by analyzing the socio-political histories of indigenous communities in South Asia. It expands research on identity construction and offers a comparative perspective on state power, indigenous adaptation, and resistance. Ultimately, it reveals how linguistic minorities actively shape their identities and resist cultural erasure through everyday language practices.