One year after a violent clash in Dhaka involving Students for Sovereignty and Adivasi students protesting the removal of the term “Adivasi” from school textbooks, activists and rights groups continue to call for accountability and justice. On January 15, 2025, at least 19 Indigenous students and rights activists were injured when members of Students for Sovereignty reportedly attacked a peaceful demonstration near the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) office in Motijheel, Dhaka.
The conflict began days earlier, on January 12, when Students for Sovereignty protested outside the NCTB office demanding the removal of an image with the term “Adivasi” from a textbook, a demand that was met when the NCTB updated the textbook online. Indigenous students then planned their own protest on January 15, triggering the violent confrontation.
Following the attack, civil society organisations, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, condemned the violence and called for action against the perpetrators. Rights groups documented the incident and urged the interim government to pursue accountability, noting concerns about extremist elements mobilising under student banners.
Police filed a case naming dozens of unidentified suspects in connection with the January 15 incident and arrested at least two individuals allegedly involved in the violence. Authorities said they were reviewing video evidence to identify and apprehend others, but there have been no widely reported major convictions or official announcements about the case’s progress during the past year.
As the anniversary of the clash passes, Indigenous rights advocates and civil society groups continue to highlight the January 15 attack as part of broader concerns about violence against minorities and challenges faced by ethnic community protests in Bangladesh. There is no publicly available comprehensive update indicating decisive government action or a concluded legal process related to the violence in Dhaka.
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