Handout

NCH Conceptual Framework

What is heritage?
Heritage is something that can be passed from one generation to the next, something that can be conserved
or inherited, and something that has historic or cultural value. Heritage might be understood to be a physical
‘object’: a piece of property, a building or a place that is able to be ‘owned’ and ‘passed on’ to someone
else.
In addition to these physical objects and places of heritage there are also various practices of heritage that
are conserved or handed down from one generation to the next. Language is an important aspect of who we
understand ourselves to be, and it is learned and passed from adult to child, from generation to generation.
These invisible or ‘intangible’ practices of heritage, such as language, culture, popular song, literature or
dress, are as important in helping us to understand who we are as the physical objects and buildings that we
are more used to thinking of as ‘heritage’. Another aspect of these practices of heritage is the ways in which
we go about conserving things – the choices we make about what to conserve from the past and what to
discard: which memories to keep, and which to forget; which memorials to maintain, and which to allow
to be demolished; which buildings to save, and which ones to allow to be built over. Practices of heritage
are customs and habits which, although intangible, inform who we are as collectives, and help to create our
collective social memory. We use objects of heritage (artefacts, buildings, sites, landscapes) alongside
practices of heritage (languages, music, community commemorations, conservation and preservation of
objects or memories from the past) to shape our ideas about our past, present and future.

Tangible and intangible Cultural Heritage

‘Tangible Cultural Heritage’ refers to physical artefacts produced, maintained and transmitted
intergenerationally in a society. It includes artistic creations, built heritage such as buildings and
monuments, and other physical or tangible products of human creativity that are invested with cultural
significance in a society. ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ indicates ‘the practices, representations,
expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated
therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their Cultural
Heritage’ (UNESCO, 2003). Examples of intangible heritage are oral traditions, performing arts, local
knowledge, and traditional skills.

Tangible and intangible heritage require different approaches for preservation and safeguarding, which has
been one of the main motivations driving the conception and ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention
for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Convention stipulates the interdependence
between intangible Cultural Heritage, and tangible cultural and natural heritage, and acknowledges the role
of intangible Cultural Heritage as a source of cultural diversity and a driver of sustainable development.
Recognizing the value of people for the expression and transmission of intangible Cultural Heritage,
UNESCO spearheaded the recognition and promotion of living human treasures, ‘persons who possess to
a very high degree the knowledge and skills required for performing or recreating specific elements of the
intangible Cultural Heritage’.

World Heritage

A World Heritage site is a landmark or area which is selected by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of
significance, and is legally protected by international treaties. The sites are judged important to the
collective interests of humanity.
The sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which otherwise would be subject to risk
from human or animal trespassing, unmonitored/uncontrolled/unrestricted access, or threat from local
administrative negligence. Sites are demarcated by UNESCO as protected zones. The list is maintained by
the international World Heritage Program administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee,
composed of 21 states parties which are elected by their General Assembly.
The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the
common culture and heritage of humanity. Under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the
World Heritage Fund. The program began with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World's
Cultural and Natural Heritage, which was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16
November 1972. Since then, 193 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most widely
recognized international agreements and the world's most popular cultural program.

Who is a refugee?
A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or
violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or
are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing
their countries.
More than half of all refugees worldwide come from just three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and South
Sudan.

As of December 2017, an estimated 655,000 to 700,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh to avoid the
persecution from Myanmar's military, which started on 25 August 2017. There are more 300,000
Rohingyas living in Bangladesh who fled in earlier waves violence from the Burmese government over the
last three decades. Moreover, Rohingyas in Hydarabad feel insecure in India, they also try to enter into
Bangladesh as the Rohingyas in Myanmars do.
Rohingyas are a Muslim minority in Myanmar regarded by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal migrants
from Bangladesh. The Rohingyas have lived in Myanmar for generations and the Bangladesh government
has called for Myanmar to take back the refugees. They are denied citizenship in Myanmar and have been
described as the world’s most persecuted minority. Rohingyas are persecuted in Myanmar by security
forces and Buddhist extremists. Myanmar has denied persecuting the Rohingyas.
Since the 1970s Rohingya refugees have been coming to Bangladesh from Myanmar. In the 1990s, more
than 250,000 resided in refugees camps in Bangladesh. In the early 2000s, all but 20,000 of them were
repatriated to Myanmar, some against their will. This respite ended in 2015 and by 2017, an estimated
300,000 to 500,000 Rohinya refugees were in Bangladesh. Most of the refugees are located along
the Teknaf-Cox's Bazar highway that is parallel to the Naf River, which is the border between Bangladesh
and Myanmar. Most of the refugees are located in or near Cox's Bazar, a coastal area dependent upon
tourism.[15]
Bangladesh blamed the refugees for crime and 2012 Ramu violence in Cox's Bazar. Bangladesh also
follows a policy of making the country unwelcome for Rohingya refugees.]The majority of the refugees are
unregistered, with only 32 thousand refugees registering themselves with UNHCR and the Bangladeshi
government. An estimated 200,000+ refugees are living unregistered in Bangladesh. Amnesty International
reports have stated that the Myanmar security forces are committing rape, extrajudicial killing, and burying
homes belonging to the Rohingya in a December 2016 report. Refugees have been displacing the
indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts
In 2015 the government of Bangladesh proposed a relocation plan for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
to the remote island of Thengar Char in the Bay of Bengal. The plan was pushed back following criticism
by human rights activists and the UNHCR.
Between October and November 2016, about 65,000 Rohingya refugees arrived from Myanmar. The
government of Bangladesh decided to revive the relocation plan.[24] Thengar Char submerges during high
tide and was formed in the 2000s by sediments from the Meghna River. It is not included on most maps, and
is located 30 kilometers away from Hatiya Island, the nearest inhabited area. The Bangladesh Army has
been tasked with making the island habitable for the refugees.

Secularism
Secularism is one of the four fundamental principles according to the original 1972 Constitution of
Bangladesh. Over 90% of Bangladeshis are Muslims, the rest being Hindus 8%, Buddhists 1%, Christians
0.9%, and others 0.1%. People in Bangladesh observe various secular festivals at different times throughout
the year. The ethos of secularism in South Asia is in many ways different from that of Western versions
that assert complete separation of church and state. Rather, it is the freedom of individuals to practice the
faith he or she desires without being subject to any form of state or communal discrimination.
At present The Constitution of Bangladesh declares Secularism as one of the four fundamental principle of
the state policy in Article-8 of Part-II and also declares Islam as the state religion in Article-2A of Part-I In
Article 12 of Part -II of the constitution which was restored by the 15th amendment states –
The principle of secularism shall be realised by the elimination of -

1. Communalism in all forms;

2. the granting by the state of political status in favour of any religion;
3. the abuse of religion for political purposes;
 4. any discrimination against, or persecution of, persons practising a particular religion

Delta
A river delta is a landform that forms from deposition of sediment carried by a river as the flow leaves
its mouth and enters slower-moving or standing water.[1][2] This occurs where a river enters
an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more rarely) another river that cannot transport away the supplied
sediment. The size and shape of a delta is controlled by the balance between watershed processes that supply
sediment and receiving basin processes that redistribute, sequester, and export that sediment. The size,
geometry, and location of the receiving basin also plays an important role in delta evolution. River deltas
are important in human civilization, as they are major agricultural production centers and population
centers. They can provide coastline defense and can impact drinking water supply. They are also
ecologically important, with different species assemblages depending on their landscape position.
Social movement
A social movement is a type of group action. Social movements can be defined as "organizational
structures and strategies that may empower oppressed populations to mount effective challenges and resist
the more powerful and advantaged elites". They are large, sometimes informal, groupings
of individuals or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues. In other words, they carry
out, resist, or undo a social change. They provide a way of social change from the bottom within nations.
Modern Western social movements became possible through education (the wider dissemination
of literature) and increased mobility of labor due to the industrialization and urbanization of 19th-century
societies. It is sometimes argued that the freedom of expression, education and relative economic
independence prevalent in the modern Western culture are responsible for the unprecedented number and
scope of various contemporary social movements. However, others point out that many of the social
movements of the last hundred years grew up, like the Mau Mau in Kenya, to oppose Western colonialism.
Either way, social movements have been and continued to be closely connected with democratic political
systems. Occasionally, social movements have been involved in democratizing nations, but more often they
have flourished after democratization. Over the past 200 years, they have become part of a popular and
global expression of dissent.
Modern movements often utilize technology and the internet to mobilize people globally. Adapting to
communication trends is a common theme among successful movements. Research is beginning to explore
how advocacy organizations linked to social movements in the U.S. and Canada use social media to
facilitate civic engagement and collective action. The systematic literature review of Buettner & Buettner
analyzed the role of Twitter during a wide range of social movements (2007 WikiLeaks, 2009 Moldova,
2009 Austria student protest, 2009 Israel-Gaza, 2009 Iran green revolution, 2009 Toronto G20,
2010 Venezuela, 2010 Germany Stuttgart21, 2011 Egypt, 2011 England, 2011 US Occupy movement,
2011 Spain Indignados, 2011 Greece Aganaktismenoi movements, 2011 Italy, 2011 Wisconsin labor
protests, 2012 Israel Hamas, 2013 Brazil Vinegar, 2013 Turkey)

Culture
When someone says the word culture, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Some of us may think
about certain beliefs, such as religious or moral beliefs. Others may think about the way people dress or
decorate themselves, like wearing turbans or having facial tattoos. Additionally, some of us may think of
the artifacts from ancient cultures, like the well-known statues from Greek or Egyptian archaeology. All of
these things are tied to culture in one way or another. But what does culture mean to the anthropologists
who study it? Well, the truth is that anthropologists often disagree about the precise definition of culture.
However, for the purposes of this lesson, culture can be defined as sets of human behavior that are passed
down from one generation to the next. This transmission of culture isn't always purposeful, and may take
place anywhere that young people can interact with older people.

Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their
unique cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider culture provided they
are consistent with the laws and values of the wider society.
A pluralistic society is a diverse one, where the people in it believe all kinds of different things and tolerate
each other's beliefs even when they don't match their own.

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

While ethnocentrism involves looking at another culture from the perspective of one's own culture, cultural
relativism involves looking at another culture by its own perspective instead of one's own culture.
You are judging, or making assumptions about the food of other countries based on your own norms, values,
or beliefs. Thinking “dried squid is smelly” or “people shouldn't eat insects”
are examples of ethnocentrism in societies where people may not eat dried squid or insects.
An example of ethnocentrism in culture is the Asian cultures across all the countries of Asia. Throughout
Asia, the way of eating is to use chopsticks with every meal. These people may find it unnecessary to find
that people in other societies, such as the American society, eat using forks, spoons, knives, etc.

Sources:

UNESCO (2003) Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible Cultural Heritage. Paris: UNESCO.

UNESCO (n.d.) Guidelines for the Establishment of National “Living Human Treasures” Systems. Paris:
UNESCO.
Banglapedia, Weekipedia, UNDP Handout etc.