Jaladas: A Seafaring Fishing Community

The Jaladas is a seafaring fishing community. They belong to lower caste Hindu community and are concentrated primarily in the coasts of Cox’s Bazar and Chattogram districts. They have been living in secluded villages in these coastal districts for centuries. The Jaladas have their own distinctive cultural and social practices. However, they are a community extremely marginalized and vulnerable and are exposed to natural calamities. The fishers who venture the rough sea sometimes lose lives. Besides, fishing opportunities have drastically deceased for the Jaladas community for various reasons including grabbing of fishing grounds by non-traditional fishers and piracy. As a consequence, many have to either change their traditional way of living or become unemployed. With almost no access to higher education or formal occupations, they have little scope to migrate out of extreme poverty.

The monograph presents findings of a study of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) on demographic and socio-economic conditions of the community, which is a valuable addition to the academic and public discourse on social exclusion of the Jaladas in Bangladesh.