Sylheti diaspora
| ছিলটী ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ |
|
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| c. ~11.8 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|
Sylhet Division (Bangladesh) Barak Valley (India) Shillong (India) Tripura, India |
|
| Languages | |
|
Bengali, Hindi and English as second languages |
|
| Religion | |
|
Bangladesh: Islam (81%), Hinduism (18%) |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Indo-Aryan peoples |
Bangladesh: Islam (81%), Hinduism (18%)
India: Hinduism (Majority), Islam (Minority)
The Sylhetis (Sylheti: ছিলটী, ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ) are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group of people who speak the Sylheti language and are native to the Sylhet region of Bangladesh and the Barak Valley, India with a sizeable population in Shillong, Meghalaya and Tripura, India. They are often described as being synonymous with Bengalis due to historical and linguistic similarities.
Sylheti Ethnicity is also known as Sylheti Zaati in popular form; it includes peoples from Barak Valley in Southern Assam, India and Surma Valley or Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. Sylheti Zaati includes peoples from different religious denominations including Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Pagans and Atheists. A perception runs wild in Bangladesh that people of Sylhet are planning in connivance with India to carve out an independent state of Sylhet consisting of South Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, greater Mymensingh, greater Dhaka, greater Comilla, greater Noakhali, greater Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts with the epicentre at the city of Sylhet. This myth was concocted in an anonymous group or individual(s) in London and it led to consequential suppression of Sylheti Zaati in Bangladesh. Sylheti Zapatista is gaining wider recognition and momentum outside of Bangladesh due to growing human conscious and prevalence of human rights in European countries, particularly in the UK, and the USA. Sylheti as a Zaati is promoted by Sylhetologists and human rights activists.
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Wikipedia