Th is roundtable centers the voices of Indigenous women from the Chittagong Hi ll Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh as they speak about everyday experiences of g endered violence\, displacement and representation of Indigenous women and Indigenous people in the national discourse. The event also responds to the brutal rape of an Indigenous Marma schoolgirl in September 2025\, which sp arked widespread protests. The conversation will explore how Indigenous wom en navigate the intersections of state power\, settler expansion\, and deco lonial resistance—while asserting care and justice in the face of persisten t impunity of security forces. In doing so\, the event speaks to broader qu estions of Asian/Global Indigeneity\, connecting the struggles of the CHT’s Indigenous communities to other movements for sovereignty and justice.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required for both in-person and online attendance.
Date & Time:Friday\, October 17\, 2025 | 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PT
Locat
ion:
In-person: Room 604\, Asian Centre\, 1871 West Mall\, Va
ncouver
Online: via Zoom
[buttons][button link_text="Register he re to attend in-person" link_url="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQL SfT07E0h3cIr_qBUPV14B1U_OIPipz7oLVpvxeDEHaJaMNHIQ/viewform"][/buttons]
< p>[buttons][button link_text="Register here to attend online" link_url="htt ps://sfu.zoom.us/meeting/register/x-HyJQklTUqowboSCsuZ1A#/registration"][/b uttons]The roundtable is moderated by Parboti Roy (University of British Columbia) and < a href="https://www.sfu.ca/internationalstudies/people/profiles/rshrestha.h tml">rupak shrestha (Simon Fraser University).
Presented by the <
a href="https://www.sfu.ca/global-asia.html">Global Asia Program and David Lam Centre\, Simon
Fraser University and the Indigenous Asia I
nitiative Steering Committee in the Department of Asian Studies\, Unive
rsity of British Columbia.
Co-sponsored by the David Lam Centre\, Simon Fraser University an
d the Department of Asian Studies\, UBC.
Mya t Moe Khaing is an Indigenous woman from the Chittagong Hill Tract s\, Bangladesh. Her work explores the intersectionality of Indigenous and g ender politics\, with a focus on social justice and decolonial approaches. She is currently a graduate student of Social Work in Australia. With a bac kground in journalism and telecommunications and academic training in Busin ess and Development Studies\, Myat brings a multidisciplinary perspective t o issues of equity\, representation\, and Indigenous self-determination.
Rani Yan Yan is the Advisor of the Chakma Circle\, an Indigenous Peoples’ traditional administrative and governance institution i n the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. As an Indigenous Peoples’ right s defender and a women rights activist\, her more than a decade-long activi sm has focused on movement building to establish peace through justice\, eq uity and inclusiveness. Ms. Yan collaborates with and facilitates strategic partnerships among local communities\, national and international rights a nd development organizations to find solutions to pressing rights and devel opment issues. Throughout her career\, Ms. Yan has continued to empower Ind igenous women through various initiatives\, including facilitating the appo intment of Indigenous women in all-male Indigenous traditional governance i nstitutions and mentoring Indigenous youth activists on defending rights. H er expertise includes Indigenous Peoples’ rights\, Indigenous knowledge\, w omen’s rights\, development of marginalized populations and SDGs. Rani Yan Yan has emerged as a fearless voice and outspoken advocate for equal rights and justice\, despite facing immense security risks and even violence. For her unmatched commitment\, courage and efforts to protect and defend margi nalized peoples’ rights\, Rani Yan Yan was honored with the “Global Anti-ra cism Champions Award” by the U.S. State Department in 2023. In 2021\, she w as also nominated as a finalist for the “Women Building Peace Award 2021” b y the United States Institute of Peace. Ms. Yan received Australia Awards s cholarship and obtained her Honours Bachelor's Degree and Bachelor's Degree in Development Studies from the University of Adelaide\, Australia.
Rani Ukhengching Marma's work centers on preserving indige nous autonomy\, advancing customary rights\, revitalizing the Marma languag e\, and transforming educational opportunities for indigenous children in t he region. Through her research on the Marma language\, she continuously ad vocates for meaningful multilingual education policies in Bangladesh that h onor indigenous linguistic heritage and give indigenous children the tools to thrive in their own languages. Also\, as an adviser to the "Women Headm an and Karbari Association\, Mong Circle" she champions the rights of women traditional leaders\, ensuring their voices are heard in decision-making a nd community spaces. Deeply committed to youth empowerment\, Rani also beli eves in creating pathways for the next generation\, ensuring Indigenous you ng people have access to quality education\, research and other opportuniti es that allow them to lead their respective communities into a more equitab le future while staying rooted in their indigenous and cultural identity. CATEGORIES:Featured Events LOCATION:Asian Centre\, Room 604 GEO:49.263704;-123.254783 URL;VALUE=URI:https://asia.ubc.ca/events/event/everyday-indigenous-experien ces-in-the-cht-bangladesh/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://asia.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2025/10/10657_20251017-Indigenous-Women_EB_3.rev_.1760043154.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 DTSTART:20250309T100000 TZNAME:PDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR