The sun was about to set beyond the horizon of Rangamati when five madrasah girls stepped out of the bus after a long journey. Albeit exhausted, they were curious to find out what was awaiting them in their very first trip outside Dhaka. Usually, most female students in madrasahs are disconnected from the outside world especially those who are enrolled in residential institutions. In the 10,450 alia madrasahs in operation in Bangladesh over 1.5 million students are females, many drop out after the tenth grade. The isolation that results from belonging to this 'third stream' is highlighted during several conversations we have had with them, where they have expressed feeling misunderstood, marginalised.
So naturally, living as part of a community which barely interacts with others, these five girls were excited for what was to come. They were about to embark on a journey where they would meet five other indigenous girls, who had never come in contact with someone from a madrasah. While the five girls, Ayesha Siddika, Sabikun Nahar, Nazma Akhter Nowrin, Shetu Akhter and Ayesha Siddika, are Bangla speaking Muslims with a strong Islamic influence on their identities, the ones they met belong to entirely different religious and ethnic groups. Akhi Tanchangya, Songrong Mro, Any Prue Marma, Prity Chakma and Sentry Tripura are the five indigenous girls who participated in this exchange programme with the madrasah girls. They belong to the Tanchangya, Mro, Marma, Chakma and Tripura ethnic groups respectively. 11 ethnic groups reside in Rangamati alone and all ethnic groups in Bangladesh consist of only 1.8 per cent of the population. As a result of being minorities in a Muslim-majority Bangla speaking nation, ethnic groups have been historically exposed and vulnerable to violence. Starting from abduction and rape of young girls to displacement due to tourism and enforced eviction by local Bangla goons, these small ethnic groups have been subjected to many atrocities.
Two organisations, Leaping Boundaries and Supporting People and Rebuilding Communities (SPaRC), were interested in arranging an exchange programme between madrasah and indigenous girls for sometime. Leaping Boundaries, an organisation that has been working with madrasah girls since 2012, strives to establish its presence and increase its visibility in mainstream platforms. SPaRC, operating since 2013, is a feminist organisation whose mission is ensuring women and girls' social and political rights without prejudice of their sex, caste, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Founders of both organisations had been keen on introducing members of these communities. After receiving planning and support from the Swedish Institute, this project, named Girls for Peace, became a reality.
The exchange programme took place from December 13 to 15 and each day was full of activities that allowed the girls to engage and create learning opportunities about their different backgrounds. The event turned out to be more interesting than anticipated. Amidst watching 'Hirok Rajar Deshe', making visits to the Chakma Chief Circle's palace, sharing reflections in the World Cafe and art activity sessions together, the girls grew intimate. In a presentation during World Cafe Ayesha Siddika shared, "I didn't have much idea about their religion and didn't know that this was their traditional clothing but today I learnt that they are mostly Buddhists. I now know that they have simple wedding customs like exchanging garlands compared to Muslim weddings where we have many ceremonies." In another presentation Akhi Tanchangya shared, "I am very happy to make new friendship with Ayesha."
Owing to the vast cultural and social differences, the security concerns and harassments a Bangalee girl faces in the streets of Dhaka is significantly different from that which an indigenous girl faces in the hill tracts, which is mostly life threatening. As opposed to the madrasah education where they have to learn Arabic besides other subjects within the national curriculum, schools in the hill tracts also follow the national curriculum but it has a different impact on them; the syllabus is not inclusive of the languages native to the indigenous communities and the five girls, during the programme, have expressed how they cannot speak in their native tongue as they have attended a Bangla school their entire lives. Furthermore, it is difficult for girls from both communities to get access to jobs either because their madrasah education is nationally undermined or for their inherent ethnic backgrounds.
What started out as a programme led by SPaRC and Leaping Boundaries as a small attempt to bridge gaps between two highly vulnerable communities, co-existing in the same country facing marginalisation to perform cultural exchange of shared experiences, has hopefully been the beginning of life-long friendships. Friendships will bring communities distanced by culture and geographical proximity together in harmony.
The writer is senior associate, Leadership and Innovation at Leaping Boundaries. She can be reached at durdanafarid212@gmail.com