From “Excluded Area” to securitized peace: positioning and repositioning of indigeneity in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

This article reconceptualizes identity politics in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) by showing how indigeneity is being reshaped through a securitized peace regime, counterterrorism discourse, and militarized development in the post-accord period. Drawing on an integrative review, it argues that indigenous identity in the CHT is not a fixed essence but an ongoing negotiation shaped by discourse, intersectional power relations, and historical memory within overlapping imperatives of security, development, and justice. The analysis demonstrates how state narratives of unity and security, reinforced by militarized governance, intersect with indigenous claims to land and justice, thereby redefining the conditions of recognition and belonging. It introduces “securitized positioning” as a multi-scalar lens for understanding how peacebuilding and counterinsurgency discourses permeate identity formation. This approach contributes to wider debates in indigenous studies, identity politics, and postcolonial governance by highlighting how security logics entwine with indigeneity within and beyond the CHT.