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Paradigm of ‘better life’:

‘development’ among the Khumi in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts
a
Nasir Uddin
a
Department of Anthropology , University of Chittagong ,
Chittagong , Bangladesh
Published online: 09 Jun 2013.

To cite this article: Nasir Uddin (2014) Paradigm of ‘better life’: ‘development’ among the Khumi
in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Asian Ethnicity, 15:1, 62-77, DOI: 10.1080/14631369.2013.803801

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2013.803801

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 Asian Ethnicity, 2014
Vol. 15, No. 1, 62–77, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2013.803801

Paradigm of ‘better life’: ‘development’ among the Khumi in the

Chittagong Hill Tracts
Nasir Uddin*

Department of Anthropology, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh

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Development is conventionally understood in various ways including economic

growth, increase of gross domestic product (GDP), rise of per-capita income, improve-
ment of social facilities, political stabilities, and women’s empowerment and many
other issues, but it finally means bringing positive changes in the life of people.
However, development is always contextual because the notion and nature of devel-
opment often varies from society to society depending on the context of local–societal
dynamics. Therefore what is regarded globally accepted model of development can be
challenged by the local discourse of development, since local-level perception could
contest the universal model. This article addresses such a case of development which is
conceptualised from the social and cultural point of view amid everyday experiences of
ordinary people’s lives. The article contextualises its argument with specific reference
to the Khumi people living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.
Keywords: development; discourse; Bangladesh; the Chittagong Hill Tracts; the
Khumi

1. Introduction
From the populist perspective instigated mostly by economists, development is perceived
as economic progress on various numerical parameters including per-capita income and
gross domestic product (GDP). Some liberal economists (for example Sen)1 reckon
development that contains certain degree of human rights, progress in education, environ-
mental concerns and social and political stability. Anthropology also entertains a lively
debate to understand development from two opposing perspectives: formalist and sub-
stantivist. Formalists2 believe in the universal model of development largely symmetrical
to the development theory of classical economists. On the other hand, substantivists3
argue that development is indeed culturally contextual, locally specified, and embedded in
local discourse. According to the latter school, development is a relative phenomenon
which is locally defined and re-defined amid everyday experiences of the people con-
cerned. Of the two juxtaposed schools, this article complies with the substantivist
approach of development, with specific reference to one of the ethnic minority groups
living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh.
The CHT, located on the juncture of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, is home to 114
ethnic minority groups collectively known as Pahari.5 Research undertaken on the Pahari
reveal that they are distinct from Bengalis in terms of sociocultural organisations, politico-
economic settings and ethnic background. Their language, beliefs and rituals are different
from Bengalis; rather they are closely linked to those of the hill people of Assam of India

*Email: nasir.anthro@yahoo.com

© 2013 Taylor & Francis

 Asian Ethnicity 63

and Upper Myanmar. Historical evidence divulges that the Pahari were the earliest group
who migrated to the CHT from the neighbouring regions such as Arakan of Myanmar and
the Tripura of India. Since migration, they had been politically independent, economically
self-sufficient, culturally distinctive and socially egalitarian. However, from the intrusion
of 6 British (1860), Pakistan (1947) and Bangladesh (1971) into the CHT, the Pahari
people have gradually been marginalised in the context of social, economic and political
positioning in the state.7 Holding marginalised position not necessarily means that devel-
opment has not taken place in Pahari life. The state has excluded them from the national
development programme initiated since its independence. There instead have been sub-
stantial developments taken place in Pahari life in their own ways unlike populist
symptoms of development measured by numerical figures. This article focuses on the
notions of development of the Pahari, which was shaped and conceptualised amid the
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course of everyday life. This article is based on first-hand comprehensive data collected
through more than 1-year-long ethnographic fieldwork undertaken between 2005 and
2007 among the Khumi, a Pahari ethnic minority group living in the CHT.

2. Methodology applied
As part of my doctoral dissertation research, I entered the Khumi world in 2005 with the
help of a local journalist of the CHT and a Khumi college student. After doing a short
field visit to many Khumi villages located in Ruma, Thanchhi and Rowangchhari,8 I
selected two based on their characters, composition and access to the market, urban
centres and education. One village has easy access to marketplaces and road and river
transport and is going through the dissemination of education with the engagement of a
few external agencies such as local NGOs, while the other village does not. These
contrasting pictures helped me understand the causes and consequences of transition
taking place in everyday life of the Khumi. Besides, it also helped me realise the roles
of internal and external agencies in bringing transition in Khumi life. I stayed for more
than a year in two Khumi villages, with some short periodical intervals. Due to this longer
stay and my dynamic engagement in Khumi life, I got chances to take part in their
everyday activities and hence be a participant and observer. For example, at the beginning
when I expressed my desire and plan to stay in the village for more than a year, it was
difficult for me, as well as for them, to manage food and accommodation. The reason is
that they can provide a guest, whosoever, with food and shelter for a week or two but not
for a year. So, the Karbari (village chief), clan head, the religious priest of Krama and
other old villagers of the two villages sat together and discussed the matter. Finally, they
decided to attach me with a widow’s family in a village because the family needed
additional labour to work in the jhum field (shifting cultivation). The decision was
made that I would work in the jhum field, and in return, the widow’s family would
provide me with three meals a day. Further, the village community of the two villages
decided to collectively build a small house for me in a village (Rongeo Para) beside their
prayer house so that I could live there. They also decided that the house would later be
used as a house for Krama9 preachers who used to visit the village once or twice a month.
In fact, it did not only solve my problem of food and accommodation but also created
space for me to go inside the Khumi society by taking part in their major economic
activities. In fact, the entire Pahari life is shaped based on the roles, rituals and activities of
jhum cultivation. In this process, I got access to go deeper inside the Khumi world and
their sociocultural dynamics. I have detailed the fieldwork experiences elsewhere,10 but
here I would say that I could closely observe the symptoms of transition the Khumi
 64 N. Uddin

society was going through. My dissertation fieldwork ended in April 2007, but my field
visit to Khumi villages and the CHT continues to date. Apart from the fieldwork for
dissertation research, I undertook fieldwork in the CHT including the Khumi villages for
13 months in a couple of phases between 2008 and 2012.

3. Development of ‘development’: theoretical and empirical overview

Over the decades, many anthropologists studied different societies in different parts of the
world and found local and culture-specific dimensions of development unlike the uni-
versal development models generated in Western discourse following modernisation
theory. Therefore, development as a concept, an ideology and a practice has become a
very critical issue in anthropology. Because the concept of development is multifaceted,
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its meaning continuously transforms in local level, regional settings and global arena
depending on the contexts. The conceptualisation of development embraces global politics
of the West vs. the rest, capitalist vs. noncapitalist, financially rich vs. resource-poor states
and so-called economically developed vs. underdeveloped countries. The idea of
development is also used to project the structure of relationship between colonialism
and postcolonialism. ‘Within some intellectual circles, the concept of “development” has
been declared dead’,11 while Escobar12 explains it as a set of ideas and practices used for
colonial and neo-colonial domination, and therefore it is still alive and works. Amid many
premises and counterpremises, ‘development’, appeared as an idea of ‘progress’ just
after the Second World War, has gradually emerged as the most dominant concept
and determining component of the structure of relationships among and between states,
societies and people in the twentieth century. It appears as an idea of positive changes in
Africa, Latin America, Asia and other parts of the world, while such an idea is, as
some radical scholars think, ‘the development of underdevelopment’.13 In fact, the
connotation of the idea and function of ‘development’ has changed along with the
changing socioeconomic and political landscapes in local, regional and global contexts.
Lewis explained:

The policy languages of ‘basic needs’ in 1970s has shifted to new paradigm of ‘sustainable
development’ in the 1990s, alongside more recent attention to ‘building civil society’ and
‘good governance’. The language of development, as well as its practices, has changed over
time as global context has also shifted, indicating a growing sophistication in its under-
standing of problems of poverty and perhaps a lack of confidence in some of the basic
assumptions of the ‘developers’.14

These is indeed a general and macro preview of ‘development’ as an idea and practice
albeit anthropologists contributed a lot with empirical studies of microlevel societies that
in most cases challenged the established notions of ‘development’. In anthropology at the
very inception of its disciplinary journey, ‘development’ essentially indicated an unilinear
progress from ‘primitive’ to ‘modern’ society, ‘simple’ to ‘complex’ society, ‘hunting-
gathering’ to ‘industrial’ society and ‘sexual promiscuity’ to ‘nuclear’ family under the
theoretical framework of ‘social evolution’. Morgan and Tylor were able to refer to the
social evolutionist position simply as the ‘development theory’.15 However, during the
1940s, anthropologists started considering ‘development’ as a specific field of study and
part of the social system, as a social institution and as a parameter of social change.
‘Anthropology’s earlier shift from evolutionism to relativism had resulted in the issue of
developmentalist progressions being turned from an explicit concern into an implicit
theoretical assumption…’.16
 Asian Ethnicity 65

In most cases, anthropologists studied changes in societies as they transitioned from

colonial to postcolonial, impact of external agencies in microlevel societies, consequences
of the intervention of market at the local level and implications of wider capitalist
productions and exchanges in an attempt to understand ‘development’.17 Wilson’s study
in Zambia revealed the tensions stemming from the process of urbanisation and indus-
trialisation in the wake of decolonisation which triggered instability in the society as well
as promoted imbalanced rural–urban migration. Wilson, therefore, concluded saying that
the project of ‘development’ indeed created crises and tensions in the society.18
Mamdani’s work in the Gulf unveiled how family planning programme, as a develop-
mental initiative, failed due to the gaps between the external policy and the internal local
people’s perception about the family size, family members and their means of liveli-
hood.19 Barnett’s study in Sudan explained how stagnation in the local economy and
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dependency on each other were created with the land-leasing scheme that was imposed by
the British colonial rulers to control the local labour market and secure cotton exports.20
Long’s work in Peru described the local-level and small-scale process of growth brought
positive changes in the society that challenged the top-down development model pro-
duced in the West.21 Roger’s work explained why developmental initiatives failed to
produce positive changes in the society because patriarchal assumption and nuclear family
model were applied in societies which practiced joint and extended family for long.22
Tennekoon in her work in Sri Lanka found how rituals were an integral part of develop-
ment discourse, which was implicitly connected with the politics of conflict. She found a
complex relationship of rituals, culture and politics in the local discourse of develop-
ment.23 Ferguson’s work in Lesotho explained how international development agencies,
such as World Bank, imposed development model, disregarding the local-societal
dynamics of the society, and hence it did not bring ‘development’ for the people since
the project did nothing to agricultural transformation.
Woost in his work in Sri Lanka highlighted the importance of community participation
in developmental activities discarding the outsider’s intervention. Terming as alternative
vocabulary of development, Woost said, ‘development is supposed to occur through the
movement of the community as a whole… villages were assumed to act as a unit bringing
about development’24 (p. 220). On the contrary, White25 in her work in Bangladesh
emphasises the participation of the people concerned through the endeavours and activ-
ities of NGOs the depoliticisation of development.26 Harrison and Crewe in their work in
Africa explained how NGOs were imposing various programmes in the name of ‘devel-
opment’ which indeed destabilised social solidarity, social harmony and interpersonal
relations.27 Li in her work in Sulawesi of Indonesia examined donor-funded develop-
mental initiatives that seek to integrate conservation with development through the
participation of communities and a one-billion-dollar programme designed by the World
Bank to optimise the social capital of villagers, inculcate new habits of competition and
choice and remake society from the bottom up.28 Sykes in her work in Africa explained
how the art of reciprocity is important in development programmes, which is absent in an
initiative taken and imposed by international donor agencies and NGOs.
The case of Khumi society is another addition, with different regional experiences, to
this distinctive ethnographic way of understanding ‘development’, which is not imposed
from top and by outsiders but their internal desire to bring changes in everyday life
through the increasing contact with urban centres under the local discourse of ‘develop-
ment’. There is a sharp difference between the case of Khumi society and those of Wilson,
Mamdani, Barnett, Long, Roger, Ferguson and Li.29 These cases, despite having ethno-
graphic details, are based on the critical consideration of development initiatives imposed
 66 N. Uddin

from outside without taking into account the local interpretation of development, while
the Khumi case is rather an ethnographic analysis of how they conceptualise ‘the notions
of development’ amid their everyday experience of life. Although sometimes it seems
symmetrical to modernisation theory, it has its own local way of conceptualisation
(substantivist approach) that makes it distinct from the universal model of development
(formalist approach).

4. Paradigm of nebu-heina (better life): Khumi perception of development

During my fieldwork in Khumi villages, I observed a general tendency among most
villagers to bring about changes in their everyday life by adopting some components of
urban life in order to, according to their view, lead a nebu-heina (better life). Nebu-heina
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is a Khumi phrase which nearly means ‘better life’ or a life better than what they currently
lead but does not essentially denote urban life. Through a gradual connection with the
urban areas, increasing number of educated people, watching TV and movies regularly,
about which I will discuss later, the villagers gain a sense of comfortable life, what they
consider a ‘better stage’ on the way to nebu-heina, which they see as contrasted to the hill
life. The villagers conceptualise nebu-heina as a local form of what we call ‘develop-
ment’. Under the discourse of ‘development’ the Khumi conceptualise nebu-heina as a
certain stage of their living standard that involves adopting few components of urban life
to make their life comfortable in the hills, educate their children for a safe future for them,
bringing occupational mobility in their confined life, earning cash by selling goods in the
market place to purchase clothes, toiletries, entertainment devices and essential things to
facilitate their life and economic activities, jhum chash (swidden cultivation), in the hills.
I observed that most villagers tend to lead their life following shohure (urban) style
because, according to them, they are tired of their life in the hills. This tendency is
motivated by a premise ‘shohure life is a nebu-heina unlike Pahari life’, which is widely
found among the villagers. Shohor means town or urban area, and shohure denotes the
people who live in shohor or town area and lead an urban life. Several times, I noticed a
strong lament among most of the villagers for not having a life like shohure. ‘Pahari life
is very hard and laborious whereas the shohure life is comparatively more comfortable’ is
the common grievance the villagers frequently have in their daily conversation about their
hardship in the hills. This sort of inclination, in fact, persuades the villagers to bring about
changes in their everyday life. I questioned on several occasions, ‘Who told you about the
town life and its facilities? How did you get this idea?’ What they rapidly, and frequently,
responded to was something like, ‘We know as we observe when we visit shohor.’
The villagers hardly visit town areas, Bandarban, because it involves money, time and
ability to speak in Bengali language. Most of them lack all these, as they are preoccupied
with their lives within the jhum field and para (village). Only two Khumi students –
Peylung Khumi (21, m30) and Singlung Khumi (24, m) – who study in Bandarban
Government College (BGC) visit Bandarban town frequently. I found five villagers –
Peyang Khumi (55, m), Boire Khumi (33, m), Koiring Khumi (36, m), Soilo Khumi (42,
m) and Now Member (62, m) – who regularly visit Bandarban, and even Chittagong
town,31 for various errands and business. Besides, many other villagers of Rongeo Para
occasionally visit Bandarban to buy clothes and necessary things unavailable at the local
bazar (shopping place), Paraw bazar. Besides, few girls from Rongeo Para are always
brought to town by NGO workers and government officials of Tribal Cultural Institute
(TCI)32 with the help of educated Khumi to display ‘the Khumi culture’ in different
annual festivals and occasions such as adibasi mela (indigenous festival), ‘world
 Asian Ethnicity 67

indigenous day’ and adivasi sangskriti utshab (indigenous cultural festival), from where
they also gather the experience of shohure life and urban facilities. These frequent and
occasional visitors among the Khumi bring back to the village the perception of shohor
and shohure life, which is in contrast to their regular course of life in pahar. They share
the experience they gather from shohor with the villagers, and it creates an image of
shohure life, which is more comfortable and convenient in comparison to the Pahari life.
In addition to it, the villagers of Rongeo Para bought TVs and CD players that run by
battery to the village during the late nineties. Since then, they regularly watch TV and use
the CD player to enjoy Bengali dramas, news, Bengali and Hindi movies etc., which also
provided a wider sense of shohure life. This perception among the Khumi established
dichotomised images of the shohure life and Pahari life, where shohure life is more
desirable as a way of reaching nebu-heina. Therefore, most villagers of Rongeo Para now
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tend to change their life style by adopting shohure components in their Pahari life. Two of
the many determining symptoms of the changing daily course of life are taking tea after
having meal at lunch and dinner and smoking filter cigarettes.33 Now, many villagers buy
sugar, tea leaves and milk as well as filter cigarettes as part of their daily essentials. Koiso
Khumi (29, f), a woman who has passed the SSC examination, explained me while talking
about her experience of shohure life:

We are the Pahari people. Pahari people are like animals alike other wild lives living in the
jungle. We have to struggle every moment to survive in the hills. We struggle against nature and
wild animals. Is there any life in jungle? However, the shohure people enjoy the real life. They
have safe residence, lots of money, electricity, vehicles, road-communication, good-food
facilities, medical service, and so on. They have television and many other means of
entertainment. We don’t have anything though TV has recently appeared in our lives. We
eat what we get. We wear what we can afford. We cannot get what we need. We have no
means of entertainment. Our life revolves around jhum to para and para to jhum. This is
our world. They have the real life what we do not. The shohure people eat to live but we live
to eat.

It seems as if the Khumi people are crazy about shohure life, but the reality is different.
This sort of affliction reflects the tensions between Pahari life and shohure life. Since they
are tired of leading a monotonous life in Pahari, they incline to have some urban
components to make their life smooth and comfortable in Pahari.
Having this image in mind, the villagers attempt to lead a life like shohure people in the
wake of their nebu-heina, by bringing changes in their everyday life though they live in
pahar.34 Their desire to lead a comfortable life like shohure does not necessarily mean they
intend to migrate to urban areas. They cannot bring shohor, according to them, to pahar, but
they can make their Pahari life comfortable by taking the elements of shohure life. They can
break the boundary between shohor and pahar in terms of ways of living as well as features
and facilities of their lives. In this attempt, they are now getting accustomed to taking tea
after lunch and dinner and changing their sense of beautification by purchasing cosmetics
available in Bandarban town. They now use wristwatches and wall clocks to maintain time
and schedule, which were previously absent in Khumi life. They use beauty soap, shampoo
and conditioner regularly. They decorate the entrance rooms of their houses by displaying
the packets of soap, which manifest, according to them, their nebu-heina.
The villagers of Rongeo Para are bringing modern means of entertainment such as TV
and CD players, which are primarily run by battery. But they now use solar energy
systems provided by an NGO, Grameen Shokti, which can be paid in installments.35 To
make the fire, they use gas lighters. They are now getting used to wearing urban clothes.
 68 N. Uddin

Most villagers now use ‘jeans shirt’, usually bought from Bandarban, while working in
the hills especially while cleaning the jungle for preparing jhum field and during harvest-
ing to protect their body from sharp objects in the jungle. They wear plastic shoes to
protect their feet as they walk long distances every day across mountainous areas. They
use plastic bottles of Coca Cola/Sprite/Pepsi to bring and store water instead of tuhdung.36
Now, the villagers of Rongeo Para operate rice mills to mill rice instead of using laborious
goda (tool of pounding rice for paddy).
By doing all these, the Khumi are trying to bring changes in everyday life to facilitate
their living in the hills. In fact, bringing transitions in everyday life is an attempt toward
reaching nebu-heina in their life in the hills. It is not necessary that all Khumi across
villages have similar tendencies and experiences, but there are notable differences among
the villagers over the move of bringing nebu-heina, and hence there are various degrees of
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transitions observed. These differences in the degree of transition unveil the premise that
increasing physical mobility and growing contacts with the outer world indeed brings
about substantial transition in the lives of those people who have been living in geogra-
phically isolated areas for decades, like the Khumi in the CHT.

5. Stimulation for ‘better life’: the move towards development

We have also the right to a ‘better life’. How much longer will we remain Pahari in this
jungle? is the motivating spirit that encourages the Khumi to change their way of life. In
fact, Now Khumi (65, m) of Rongeo Para explained to me about their perception of, and
eagerness for, better life. Now Khumi is one of the leading figures among the Khumi and is
working to make people understand about their paradigm of ‘better life’. Now Khumi was
the first to serve as the Khumi representative in the formal body of local government –
Bandarban District Council – during the late 1980s and was the first to become acquainted
with Bandarban and shohure life. ‘Better life’, according to the Khumi perspective, does not
necessarily indicate the shohure life. Nor does it imply becoming Bengali either.
Nevertheless, leading life like shohure is one of the drives towards achieving ‘better life’
or nebu-heina. ‘Better life’ involves earning cash/money by selling goods in the market-
place in order to purchase some essential articles to make their life comfortable. ‘Better life’,
according to them, implies a disciplined life to reach the certain goal of leading a life in
peace and prosperity. ‘Better life’ entails ensuring a safe future for their children. We have
spent our lives in jungle but we don’t want our children to spend their lives in the same
fashion is a common realisation that encourages the Khumi to move towards reaching a
‘better life’. This sense of ‘better life’ influences the entire philosophy of life among the
Khumi, and hence it stimulates them to bring transition in their everyday life. Broadly, there
are few interrelated factors working behind the emergence of the paradigm of ‘better life’
among the Khumi. These factors significantly contribute to bringing the Khumi gradually,
according to them, closer to their aspiration. Their desire to bring in ‘better life’ plays
a pivotal role in accelerating the transition in their everyday life. My observation reveals
that two factors contribute significantly towards bringing the transition – in search of nebu-
heina – in the everyday life of the Khumi such as accessing the market and dissemination of
education, which are discussed in the following subsections.

5.1. Intervention of market: invention of new livelihood strategies

I first arrived at a Khumi village – Rongeo Para, which was, later on, selected as one of
my research villages – in November 2005. The arrival was scheduled so that I would
 Asian Ethnicity 69

spend the post-harvesting season among the villagers when I would expect them to have
some free time. According to established jhum calendar (Bessaignet, 1958: 16–17),37
I assumed that jhum harvesting and collecting jhum goods would have been completed by
that time. It was the time merely of making baskets, repairing houses and making house-
hold goods. However, I observed that most villagers remained preoccupied with working
in their bagan (hill gardening). In the following month, December, they remained
similarly active preparing their khamar (river bank farming). All villagers – male and
female – remained busy working in either bagan or khamar without enjoying any leisure
times. I found that access to the bazar stimulates the villagers to produce surplus.
Therefore, the villagers gradually invented new livelihood strategies apart from doing
mere jhum chash in an attempt to get close to bringing in ‘better life’.
The villagers of Rongeo Para gained access to the local bazar and Bandarban town
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areas in the early 1970s, when the connection by the river way started from Bandarban
District to Ruma sub-district. Soon after the beginning of river-way transportation along
the Shangu river, the villagers of Rongeo Para prepared a hilly path by clearing the
jungles to reach the river way. They were able to create access to the river way because
Rongeo Para was near Shangu river. At the initial stages, a kind of small dingi (small
boat) run by oars was used for transportation, but in the mid-1980s, engine-run boats were
introduced in the river-way in the CHT. Since then, the villagers of Rongeo Para were
directly connected to the local bazar and even with Bandarban town. Besides, Rongeo
Para was connected by road during the early 1980s when military troops constructed hilly
roads to facilitate their operation against the JSS38 and SB.39 However, the villagers of
Rongeo Para hardly used this road because they were often harassed by the military
personnel under the pretext of security reasons. Furthermore, it took a long time for the
villagers to reach the road by walking 3–4 hours across mountainous areas from the
village. Although both systems introduced modern modes of transport, engine-run boats
(for river way) and automobile (for roads), the villagers still prefer to use the river way. It
is because Rongeo Para has easier access to the river way than to the hilly road. Therefore,
the villagers usually use the river way to gain access to the bazar, as it is convenient and
less costly; exactly by river way 35 BDT (0.51 USD) and by road 65 BDT (about 0.94
USD) from the village to Bandarban town. Moreover, Bengali small traders also prefer the
river way for trading and marketing.
Besides being involved in the traditional and perennial jhum chash, the Khumi of
Rongeo Para generated the systems of bagan, khamar, livestock rearing and fish cultiva-
tion to cope with the growing demand of essentials in their everyday life as well as for the
commercial purpose. They usually plant various kinds of fruit trees in bagan such as
mango, orange, banana, jackfruit, guava, papaya and lemon. Not only does the produce of
bagan meet their need, but it also becomes a considerable source of cash, which brings
some comfort to their life towards nebu-heina. They produce different kinds of spices and
vegetables such as radish, brinjal, potato, narcotic plant, watermelon, sugarcane, green
peas, cabbage, chili and cauliflower in their khamar, which cover up their requirement for
everyday meals. Khamar goods, to some extent, are also sold in the marketplace for cash.
For example, by selling bagan and khamar produce, Paiong Khumi (58, m) earned 60,000
BDT (about 870 USD) and Pewsai Khumi (49, f) earned 70,000 BDT (1015 USD) in
2007. Other villagers also earned more or less worth 35,000 BDT (508 USD) by selling
the produce of jhum, bagan and khamar.
The Khumi started rearing various livestock – wild cows, pigs, hens, goats and dogs –
in every household for their various rituals and religious festivals, during which they
usually sacrifice hens, wild cows and pigs. Besides, various livestock are now sold in the
 70 N. Uddin

local market. A small cow is sold at the market for about 14000 BDT (212 USD), a big
pig is sold for 3000–4000 BDT (about 45–55 USD) and a goat is sold for 3000–4000
BDT (about 45–55 USD). Therefore, it becomes a big source of earning cash for the
villagers. It not only meets the need of daily commodities but also provides the villagers
with adequate cash to buy necessary articles in the wake of bringing nebu-heina.
Sometimes, Bengali traders visit their village and buy the livestock. Kamneng Khumi
(48, f) was rearing 25 hens, which she sold in the market at 5000 BTD (about 85 USD),
which is equivalent to one-month salary of Soilo Khumi, a school teacher of a government
primary school. Most importantly, the Khumi started cultivating fish in jhiri40 to meet
their everyday dietary needs. Previously they could not include fish in their meal, except
dry fish that they used to buy, as it took around two days to go to bazar41 to buy fish, and
it used to rot on the way back to the village. Consequently, fish was hardly included in
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their daily meal.

Inventing all these sorts of livelihood strategies apart from traditional jhum chash, the
Khumi are becoming economically solvent to lead their life in a more comfortable manner
although their customary right to land and hill is under serious crisis due to the Government
of Bangladesh’s (GoB) hegemonic policy and forced intrusion of Bengalis.42 Apart from
doing bagan and khamar, the Khumi are making handicrafts, weaving cloths and making
bamboo showpieces not only for their domestic use but also for selling in the market to earn
cash. In consequence, the Khumi are gradually becoming financially well-off to facilitate
their everyday life. They are gradually adopting many components of urban life – household
goods, clothing, means of entertainment – in their everyday life in an attempt to lead a
‘better life’. However, changes are taking place rapidly in the villages that are directly
connected to the market, while others which lack the same did not change.
In the case of Rongeo Para, in the course of bringing their bagan and khamar produce
to the market regularly, they have gradually become connected with urban life, which
plays a vital role in bringing transition in the everyday life of the Khumi. Access to the
market and urban centres indeed plays a meaningful role in generating the perception of
‘better life’. In the process of moving towards a ‘better life’, there have been remarkable
changes observed in the social network among the Khumi. The mobility resulted mainly
due to the intervention of market in the Khumi economy is gradually converting their
subsistence economy into market economy albeit at a minimum level, and it accelerates
their move towards reaching nebu-heina.

5.2. Pillar of development: dissemination of education

Increasing awareness towards being educated is another significant symptom found
among the Khumi on their way to bringing nebu-heina. I observed a general perception
among the Khumi that, ‘education is the pillar of all development’. Development does not
necessarily mean economic development. Rather, it denotes, according to the Khumi
perspective, the improvement of their standard of life, reducing their hardship in jhum
chash, making their life comfortable, connecting with the outer world and generating
sensible worldview. The Khumi believe that it can only be possible if the new generations
of Khumi are educated. They believe that if the new generations are educated, they can
lead their jatee (nation) towards better life. Rholen Khumi (65, m), who educated his four
children – three boys and one girl – explained:

Education means generating self-consciousness and making aware of own duties and
responsibilities towards their own jatee, the Khumi and their samaj (society). An educated
 Asian Ethnicity 71

Khumi is a lighter for the society. S/he can enlighten the society and her/his jatee. I got this
idea from the bitter experience of my own life when I first visited Ruma Bazar43 thirty years
ago. I went there to sell some goods and, with the money, to buy some daily essentials. But, I
couldn’t understand a simple word of Bengali language and, I, therefore, couldn’t deal with
the Bengali-people because they couldn’t understand me. I could speak but my sound didn’t
make any sense to them. Though I could sell and buy as per planning, I came back with the
lesson of why my children should be educated. I realize if one is not educated – means
learning to read, write, and speak Bengali in the context of Bangladesh – s/he remains blind
despite having eyes. S/he is muted despite having speech. Then, I tried to provide the eyes to
my children. We, the Khumi jatee, are very poor, simple, and non-uneducated. We have been
living in the jungle based on jhum. However, population is gradually increasing in the one
hand and land for jhum is reducing on the other hand. If we can’t educate our children, then,
who will create the pathway for the next generation? If people will not be educated to create
the new sources of livelihood, the Khumi jatee one day will be vanished. Because, I believe
that education is the pillar of all advancement and development. If we can make the pillar
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strong, there will be development, nebu-heina, which is inevitable.

Although educating children primarily means making them capable of dealing with
Bengalis so that they can survive in Bangladesh, it also means making the new generation
aware of the sufferings of Khumi people and their desire to lead a ‘better life’. This desire
to educate children transmits from person to person and village to village, which has been
consolidated by the experience of the Khumi while they visit bazar and shohor areas.
However, the percentage of education varies from village to village, depending on the
access to communication and physical mobility of the villagers. Practically, the process of
getting education for the Khumi is very tough and complicated. One reason is that the
GoB has not adopted any separate curriculum for the Pahari although they have distinct
languages and cultural backgrounds. All Pahari adivasi, therefore, have to be educated
under the GoB national educational curriculum, which is completely designed in Bengali,
and partly in English language. Another reason is that the Khumi live in inaccessible areas
of the CHT from where it is difficult for the Khumi students to attend classes every day in
schools located near town areas. Therefore, the Khumi remained away from the light of
education until the UNICEF established residential schools in Bandarban District in 1978.
The schools were residential in nature, with the system of providing food and residence
for the students enrolled. Two residential schools – the Ruma Abashik and the Mru
complex44–were located within the range of Khumi para, but not so near to them for
easy access. The Khumi began to be educated in accordance with the national educational
curriculum of GoB. The teachers were mostly from the Marma and a few were Bengalis.
It was really difficult for the Khumi students to be educated because they could speak
neither Bengali nor Marma.45 Finally, they started studying Bengali in Marma language.
They had to attend an examination, which is taken in Bengali language. It was, therefore,
almost impossible for the Khumi students to pass the examination, and students, therefore,
remain in the same class for several years. Peyang Khumi (35, m), who passed the SSC
examination after failing three times, stated:

It was extremely difficult for me to learn anything in school. I was 8 when I was taken to
school. The teacher was speaking in Marma language because we were the students from two
ethnic groups, the Mru and the Khumi. I couldn’t understand the teacher and the teacher
couldn’t understand me. It was more interesting that both we were dealing with quite a
different curriculum, which was written in Bengali. Teachers and students were from different
languages but dealing with third language, which was no one’s own. Even the teachers
couldn’t pronounce the Bengali word properly let alone students. Therefore, the lesson, which
was for one year, we learnt in three years or more. It took around 18 years for me to pass the
SSC, which was, as curriculum and syllabus, designed for 10 years. I attended three times in
 72 N. Uddin

the SSC examination but I failed. In fact, it was difficult for me to understand even the
question written in Bengali, how it could be possible for me to pass the examination.
However, finally I passed with grace-number46 in the fourth time. Obviously, I got third
class47 but it was more important for me to pass the examination and the Khumi thought I
became an asset for the whole jatee.

In this process, the Khumi started to go to school but most of them dropped out after one
or two years. Now, different local NGOs (Mrochet48 etc.) set up primary schools in
different Khumi villages but mostly in those villages which are near Bandarban town. For
example, the villages of Rawangchhari upazila have schools, as these are comparatively
nearer to town areas. However, the other villages such as Ruma upazila and Thanchi
upazila do not have any school, not even one school within 10 villages, because these
villages are located in remote areas of the CHT. These schools are called ‘community
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primary schools’. The teachers are usually recruited from among the Khumi. The students
can learn at least an elementary level of study, living in their own village. They, however,
learn Bengali in Khumi language. Finally, one or two Khumi started becoming edu-
cated,49 and they are placed at the centre of encouragement for the next generation of
Khumi jatee to go to school and be educated. The educated Khumi became the inspiration
of the Khumi jatee, and the Khumi marked education as ‘the pillar of their development’.
The educated Khumi are bringing occupational mobility by getting involved in jobs in the
NGOs, educational programmes of UNICEF and even government service.50 They are
earning cash (generally starting from 5000 BDT [73 USD] per month), and there has been
a transition between generations observed among the Khumi. They have been getting
connected to the urban areas and started comprehending different connotations of life.
They are bringing some modern devices of entertainment, such as TV and CD player, to
the ‘remote’ areas of the Khumi villages. Watching TV programmes and Bengali and
Hindi movies greatly influences the social fabric of the Khumi and their regular course of
life. Bringing solar energy system that was mentioned earlier, and electrification by using
it, indeed drastically changed the meaning of their life and sense of entertainment.
Watching movies, dramas and news regularly, the Khumi became aware of their own
positioning and sociopolitical affairs of the state and the CHT relations.
The intervention of modern equipment and entertainment devices is bringing the
Khumi society into a new phase with drastic changes in their everyday life. It seems
that the intervention of modern technology bringing changes in people’s lives is universal,
but the Khumi case is a bit different from the universal inclusive theorization of moder-
nisation and development. Because, becoming educated, bringing occupational mobility
and bringing entertainment devices in Khumi society strongly influences their worldview,
their degree of interpretation of social events and the meaning of their existence in their
regular course of life. This transformation in their individual and collective life signifi-
cantly stimulates them to move towards bringing their desired nebu-heina, the Khumi
paradigm of ‘better life’.

6. Conclusion
Unlike the cases of Mamdani, Ferguson and Li,51 where the idea of development was
imposed from top, the Khumi have generated their own way of transitions for moving
towards nebu-heina with the experiences they gain through the contacts with Bengalis,
markets and urban centres. Ostensibly, it seems as if the Khumi also follow the growth
model of development or modernisation theory of development by uplifting their standard
 Asian Ethnicity 73

of life from hill life to semi-urban or urban life by adopting urban features. One can also
argue that the Khumi perception of development also concerns economic development
what classical economists talk about because they, in fact in search of better life, are
producing surplus to make themselves financially well-off so that they can change their
standard of life, which seemingly goes with the universal development model of the
formalist school. However, the conceptualisation of development among the Khumi is
sharply different in its interpretation, praxis and context. Wearing plastic shoes while they
walk through mountainous hill way to protect their feet is an indication of their develop-
ment unlike the case of Li,52 where donors provided fund to bring modern equipment to
enable development in the Sulawesi of Indonesia. Wearing jeans shirt to protect their body
from sharp jungle objects is a notion of their development. Storing water in plastic bottles
instead of tudhung is a symptom of their brand of development unlike the case of
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Ferguson,53 where people in Lesotho went through developmental initiatives imposed

from outside by a donor agency. Enlisting fish in their food menu is considered a feature
of better life. Educating their children is perceived as the pillar of their development.
Reducing hardship in jhum chash by using modern agricultural tools and equipment is
understood as their nebu-heina. Using shampoo, taking tea with condensed milk and
smoking a filter cigarette are the markers of their paradigm of better life. Making things
smooth, comfortable, affordable and easier is the notion of Khumi development. The list
can be longer, which is sharply different from the popular perception of development
established among conventional development practitioners, donor agencies and by top–
down theories in academia. In that frame of thought, the Khumi paradigm of better life
belongs to the substantivist approach of development in anthropology because the Khumi
notion of development has cultural context and specific social ground in the Khumi world.

Notes on contributor
Dr Nasir Uddin is an associate professor of Anthropology at the University of Chittagong. He did
his graduation in the University of Dhaka (Bangladesh), PhD in Kyoto University (Japan), and Post-
Docs in the University of Hull (UK), Delhi School of Economics (India) and the Ruhr University
Bochum (Germany). He has published extensively in the form of books, edited volumes, conference
papers, articles in different journals and book chapters in different series. His recent book is Politics
of Peace: A Case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (2012). His forthcoming book is Anthropology,
Colonialism and Representation: A Case of the Adivasis in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (2013). His
current fields of interest are ethnicity and the formation of ethnic category in de-territorialised world,
subaltern studies and the politics of marginality, dialectics between colonialism and postcolonialism,
peace and conflict studies, notions of power and state in everyday life, paradox of modernity and
globalization, interface of local wisdom and global doctrine, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and South
Asia.
Author’s postal address: Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of
Chittagong, Chittagong-4331, Bangladesh.

Notes
1. Sen, “Economic Development: Objectives and Obstacles.”
2. Dalton, “Theoretical Issues in Economic Anthropology,” 356–385; Smith, “Regional Analysis
in World System Perspective”; Salisbury, “Anthropological Economics and Development
Planning.”
3. Polanyi, The Great Expectation; Polanyi, Trade and Market in the Early Empire.
4. Different scholars are of different opinions about the number of ethnic minority groups living
in the CHT; for instances, 8 (Lewin, Hill Tracts of Chittagong and the Dwellers Therein;
Hutchinson, Eastern Bengal and Assam District Gazetteers), 10 (Bessaignet, Tribesmen of the
Chittagong Hill Tracts; Bernot, “Ethnic groups of Chittagong Hill Tracts”; Roy, “Erosion of
 74 N. Uddin

Legal and Constitutional Safeguards”; Dewan, “Indigenous People of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts”; Brauns and Loffler, Mru – Hill People on the Boarder of Bangladesh), 13 (Mohsin,
The Politics of Nationalism; Mey, “Implication of national Development for Tribal”;
Chowdhury, History of Chittagong Hill Tracts etc.), 16 (Ahsan, The Marmas of
Bangladesh). According to official statistics of the Government of Bangladesh, the number
of ethnic minorities is 11 (BBS, Statistical Pocket Book of Bangladesh) excluding ‘Bengalis’
and unknown ‘others’.
5. The people, except Bengalis, living in the CHT are generally addressed with various terminol-
ogies; ‘Pahari’ (hill-people), ‘adivasi’ (aboriginals or the earliest people of the region), ‘tribal
people’, ‘ethnic minority’ and ‘Indigenous people’ etc. There are considerable debates con-
cerning these terminologies. In order to avoid this terminological dispute, I use ‘Pahari’ or
‘Pahari adivasi’ generally to indicate those groups of people who live in the CHT and are
culturally different from Bengalis. Besides, these people intend to introduce themselves as
Pahari to the non-Pahari world.
6. British (1860), Pakistan (1947) and Bangladesh (1971).
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7. Uddin, “History is the Story for Existence,” 391–412; Uddin, “Politics of Cultural Difference,”
283–294.
8. Ruma, Thanchhi and Rowangchhari are three sub-distircts of Bandarban, one of three hill
districts. The Khumi of Bangladesh live only in these three sub-distircts.
9. Krama is a name of religion that was invented by a Mru young boy in 1980s. Most Khumi of
two villages converted into Krama religion. Therefore Krama preachers from different Mru
villages frequently visit the villages and stay for two/three days. For details about Krama
religion, see Uddin, 2008a, “Living on the Margin”; Uddin 2008b, “Homeless at Home”.
10. Uddin, “Decolonising Ethnography in the Field,” 455–467.
11. Gardner and Lewis, Anthropology, Development and Post-modern Challenges, 1.
12. Escobar, Encountering Development.
13. Frank, “Development of Under-Development.”
14. Lewis, Anthropology and Development, 2.
15. Ferguson, “Anthropology and Its Evil Twin,” 150–175.
16. Barnard and Spencer, Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology, 157.
17. Wilson’s, Essay on the Detribalization in Northern Rhodesia, Part-II.
18. Mamdani’s, The Myth of Population Control.
19. Barnett’s, The Gezira Scheme.
20. Long’s, Introduction to the Sociology of Developing Societies.
21. Roger’s, The Domestication of Women.
22. Tennekoon, “Rituals of Development,” 294–310.
23. Ferguson’s, The Anti-politics Machine.
24. Woost, “Alternative Vocabulary of Development,” 200–253.
25. White, “Depoliticising Development,” 142–155.
26. Harrison and Crewe, Whose Development?.
27. Li, The Will to Improve.
28. Sykes, Arguing with Anthropology.
29. Wilson, Essay on the Detribalization in Northern Rhodesia, Part-II; Mamdani, The Myth of
Population Control; Barnett, The Gezira Scheme; Long, Introduction to the Sociology of
Developing Societies; Roger, The Domestication of Women; Ferguson, The Anti-politics
Machine; Li, The Will to Improve.
30. Here I have used ‘m’ to denote ‘male’ and ‘f’ to mean ‘female’. Subsequently, I put the age in
numerical figures along with sex so that the significance of an actor in a particular event can
be clearly understood.
31. Chittagong is the second largest city in Bangladesh and is also regarded as the trade city of the
country. Visiting Chittagong is always meaningful to the Pahari especially those whom I have
addressed in this article as marginalised Pahari. For details, see Uddin, “Politics of Cultural
Difference”.
32. Now, Tribal Cultural Institute (TCI) is called Ethnic Minority Cultural Institute (EMCI) since
2010.
33. Previously, the Khumi used to smoke using a particular kind of tobacco leaves locally called
churut that they used to produce in jhum. However, the Khumi of Rongeo Para now smoke
filter cigarettes.
 Asian Ethnicity 75

34. Uddin, 2008a; Uddin, “Living on the Margin”.

35. Uddin, 2008b; Uddin, “Homeless at Home”.
36. Tudhung is a kind of household article (like a pitcher) made of dried pumpkin, which is used
to bring water from the valley and to store water at home. Making Tuhdung is very
complicated and time consuming. Now, they use Coca-Cola/Pepsi/Sprite bottle to bring and
store water.
37. Bessaignet, Tribesmen of the Chittagong Hill Tracts prepared this calendar, which has been
used as an authentic reference in many other different books and article (for example, Rafi and
Choudhury, 2001:12 etc.). It is popularly known as jhum Calendar though it varies from year
to year depending on the behaviour of nature.
38. Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS) or People’s Solidarity Association is a political organisation, and a
regional political party, of the Pahari of CHT.
39. Shanti-Bahini (SB) or Peace-troop was an armed-wing of JSS which was abolished according
to a clause of the CHT Peace Treaty signed in 1997.
40. Jhiri is a small lake with little storage of water falling down from the hill. In the entire hilly
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areas of CHT, there are numerous jhiri found.

41. Here, bazar does not mean Paraw bazar where some dry fishes are sold. Here, Bazar denotes
the market place located in district and sub-district areas where it takes two days to visit from
the Khumi village.
42. Forest Department of Bangladesh (FDB) was gradually acquiring land which customarily
belonged to the Pahari adivasi. FDB already acquired a big area of land from the Khumi of
Rongeo Para by force. In this way, the land-resources are gradually reducing in the life of
Pahari adivasi.
43. Ruma is an upazila (sub-district) of Bandarban but it is located far away from Bandarban
district town. It takes about whole day to arrive at Ruma. There is a periodical Bazar on every
Friday in Ruma in front to sub-district office. Since this is a regular event happening in Ruma,
it has gradually turned into Ruma bazar. The nearest Khumi Para is still far away from this
bazar. It takes one whole day to arrive at bazar. The Khumi usually, start for bazar-day
(Thursday) before the Friday and they leave bazar day (Saturday) after bazar. They stay one
day and two nights in Ruma bazar. Finally, it takes around three days for the Khumi to attend
any bazar.
44. UNICEF established three residential schools in Bandarban district to encourage the Pahari
adivasi who were living far away from the town areas. The third one is Thanchi Abashik
(Thanchi Residential) school.
45. A few Khumi could speak in Marma language because they learned it in course of interaction
in local bazar of Bandarban which mostly dominated by Marma along with Bengalis.
46. Grace number is an-additional number usually examiner added to obtained marks in special
case when student obtains very close to pass marks in particular subjects.
47. Third class is the lowest grade of passing any examination according to Bangladesh National
Curriculum.
48. Mrochet is a local NGO located in Bandarban basically working on the Mru. However,
recently, their activities have been expanded to the Khumi village.
49. ‘Educated’ means at least the SSC pass or SSC fail.
50. Government service here means getting job in government institutions, for instance
Government Primary School. There are two educated Khumi working in government primary
school as assistant teachers.
51. Mamdani, The Myth of Population Control; Ferguson, The Anti-politics Machine; Li, The Will
to Improve.
52. Li, The Will to Improve.
53. Ferguson, The Anti-politics Machine.

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