John Tripura

John Tripura participated in DTP’s 25^th Annual Program in Sri Lanka in 2016. John has been actively engaged in defending the human rights of Indigenous peoples in both the plain lands and Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh for a number of years. His passion to address the plight of Indigenous peoples comes from his own experiences.

As an Indigenous Tripura man, John has firsthand experience of violations and exploitations and believes the Indigenous peoples in Bangladesh are the most disadvantaged, neglected, and vulnerable people in the country.

“Indigenous peoples have often faced eviction from their homelands in the name of development projects. Their land has been taken without their consent. The Indigenous peoples in Bangladesh face discrimination from different State agencies, corporations, settlers and others. They are also subjected to gross human rights violations including killing, rape, torture, arbitrary arrest, communal attack and land grabbing.”

John works at Kapaeeng Foundation (KF) in Bangladesh as a Documentation Facilitator. His role involves reporting on land issues and violations of Indigenous peoples’ rights in Bangladesh. He liaises and collaborates with like-minded NGOs, human rights organisations, Indigenous peoples’ organisations, and civil society. John participated in the DTP training program to enhance his knowledge on various international human rights conventions, advocacy and lobbying strategies. After the completion, John returned to Bangladesh as a more skilled and knowledgeable advocate.

“I promoted a more inclusive, strategic and participatory decision-making process within KF and provided support to projects addressing the needs of Indigenous peoples.”

John and his colleagues utilise their learnings to give a greater voice to the Indigenous youth and young human rights defenders in Bangladesh.

“KF has adopted many lessons from the DTP training. The trainings have helped KF to engage and collaborate better with Indigenous youth human rights organisations in Bangladesh. DTP training programs offer so many benefits to Indigenous youth of Bangladesh and to KF, and many Indigenous youths gained experience and confidence from participation.”

To hear more about John’s experiences, follow him on his blog. John also writes articles on the current issues on Indigenous peoples in Bangladesh. Here is an example of his work, an article, co-written with Babul Chakma, and published in the Dhaka Tribune.