A Forgotten Affair?

The stranded Pakistanis may have become a victim of politics, opportunism and the selfishness of successive governments, but the legacy of their sufferings will not die down so easily. On May 19, 2008, the Dhaka High Court in a landmark judgment approved citizenship and voting rights for about 150,000 persons who were variously known as ‘stranded Pakistanis' ‘Biharis' or ‘stateless people.' The judgment delivered by the Dhaka High Court closed a sad chapter in human history which began in 1971 with the creation of Bangladesh. Pakistan's forgotten citizens in Bangladesh scattered in 66 camps in that country and numbering around 300,000, struggled for years for their repatriation to Pakistan but became a victim of apathy, indifference and politics.

In the general elections held in Bangladesh on December 29, 2008, ‘Urdu speaking' Bangladeshis, called as Biharis voted for the first time thus ending years of their struggle to go to Pakistan, a country which they expressed their allegiance to for decades. The new generation of Urdu-speaking Bangladeshis realized that after decades of a fruitless campaign to be repatriated to Pakistan, it was illogical to remain stateless and to face constant humiliation. For 38 years, that unfortunate community of Bangladesh which carried the stigma of supporting united Pakistan and also the army action of 1971, suffered and lived a miserable life in camps scattered all over Bangladesh. As a result of a tripartite agreement reached between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1973, Islamabad agreed to accept 170,000 non-Bengalese out of around half a million. The rest refused to accept the offer of the then government of Bangladesh to accept Bangladeshi nationality with a hope that one day they would be repatriated to Pakistan.

From 1974, when a part of the non-Bengalese was repatriated till 2008, the issue of stranded Pakistanis became a source of conflict, particularly in the province of Sindh as the native Sindhis showed their deep reservation and resentment on the question of their repatriation because of fear that even if they were settled outside Sindh, the Biharis would eventually settle in urban Sindh thus altering the demographic balance of the province. While the MQM and Jamaat-i-Islami and some other political parties supported the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis, the nationalist forces of Sindh and the bureaucracy in Islamabad vehemently opposed such a demand on account of their bias against that community. The deepening of violence and terrorism in Pakistan in the last 15 years also compelled the Urdu-speaking stranded population to give second thought to their age-old dream of going to Pakistan. Deeply hurt as a result of indifferent or hostile attitude of successive Pakistani governments vis-à-vis their plight, they decided to opt for Bangladesh. The conflict within the Urdu-speaking community in Bangladesh on the issue of opting for Bangladesh or continuing their struggle for their repatriation to Pakistan further weakened the demand of their repatriation. Two organizations, namely Stranded Pakistanis General Rehabilitation Committee and the Committee for Rehabilitation of Non-Bengalese in Bangladesh, represented generational divide within the Urdu-speaking community as the older generation wanted to go to Pakistan while the post-1971 generation considered Bangladesh and not Pakistan as their homeland. In 2001, some Urdu-speaking stranded Pakistanis approached the Dhaka High Court with a petition to consider their right of citizenship, a fact which was opposed by the pro-Pakistan groups in different Bangladeshi camps. The May 2008 judgment delivered by the Dhaka High Court made it possible for hundreds of thousands from the Urdu-speaking population of Bangladesh, living in 66 camps, to obtain Bangladeshi citizenship.

Two questions which one can raise about the changed nature of the ‘Bihari' issue are: first, is the repatriation chapter closed and, second, how the granting of citizenship to stateless people called ‘Biharis' will have an impact on Bangladesh-Pakistan relations?

After the judgment of Dhaka High Court, there is no possibility of keeping the issue of repatriation of ‘stranded Pakistanis' alive. After almost 40 years of the creation of Bangladesh, the fact is that the majority of stateless persons were born in that country and do not share anything with Pakistan. The older generation may have its dream of going to Pakistan but with the passage of time that generation is phasing out. Colossal human sufferings which were and are faced by the Urdu-speaking community of Bangladesh called ‘Biharis', however, would continue to haunt the conscience of those people who believed and still believe that Islamabad acted in utter unfairness by denying its own people the right to return because of petty political matters. As far as the future of Bangladesh-Pakistan relations is concerned, since 1971, the issue of stranded Pakistanis has been an irritant and a major impediment in their ties. Bangladesh consistently demanded from Pakistan to fulfill its responsibility by taking back the remaining stranded Pakistanis but Islamabad since 1975 followed a policy of rejecting such demands. Pakistani officials kept on insisting that their country has fulfilled its commitment by taking more than 163,000 Biharis and cannot take more.

When the then President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf visited Dhaka in July 2002 and met a delegation of stranded Pakistanis, he also repeated the official Pakistani position and advised them to opt for Bangladesh. Frustrated and angry with continuous rebuffs and rejection by Islamabad, the stateless people in Bangladesh called as Biharis realized the futility of their struggle for repatriation. The events following 9/11 which led to the growing acts of violence and terrorism in Pakistan also compelled them to review their stance and seek the option of opting for Bangladesh. According to a section of Urdu-speaking people whose ancestors migrated from India at the time of the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, what was the point in going to Pakistan when the country was in turmoil and a scene of terrorism and sectarian in-fighting? Had Pakistan been politically and economically stable, there would have been some temptation for such people to continue their drive for repatriation to the ‘land of the pure.'

The implications of the tragic end-game of the stranded Pakistanis are far reaching. First, Pakistan has lost a community whose patriotism for the country was beyond any shadow of doubt. Skilled and hardworking, they wouldn't have been a burden on the economy of Pakistan and would have significantly contributed to the progress and development of the country. Unlike the Afghan refugees who came to Pakistan in millions and destabilized Pakistani society, the stranded Pakistanis would have been an asset and not a liability. By not accepting that community which while living in Bangladesh was committed to Pakistan, Islamabad has lost an opportunity to compensate for the tragic events of 1971. Second, the pain, sufferings and ordeals which hundreds of thousands of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh have gone through from 1971 to the present, may add to the predicament of Pakistan. It is a natural and historical phenomenon that the sufferings of innocent people ultimately hurt those who are a cause of that suffering. Violence, bloodshed, chaos and disorder in present-day Pakistan is perhaps because of the failure of the state to do justice to a community which sacrificed everything for the country but in return got only rejection.

By all means, the ‘Bihari' syndrome will continue to haunt Pakistan for a long time. Even though a segment of the ‘Bihari' or Urdu-speaking community of Bangladesh has opted for Bangladesh, but deep down they still owe their allegiance to Pakistan. If they have become a victim of Pakistani politics, opportunism and selfish approach of people at the helm of affairs, the issue may be forgotten in the years to come but its legacy will not die down so easily. The political opportunism of those political parties and groups who, for a long period of time, did their politics on bringing back stranded Pakistanis is also a bitter fact.

The state of Pakistan should at least fulfill some of its moral responsibilities by using the funds which were collected under the Rabita-i-Islami for the welfare and rehabilitation of the ‘forgotten' citizens of Pakistan. According to sources, until some years ago, the fund had several hundred million dollars for the purpose of using this money to cover the costs of repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis. If that amount is still available with the fund, it should be used for the betterment of those people for whom it was created so that Pakistan can at least make the lives of these people pleasant and better - people who suffered because of apathy and neglect.

Moonis Ahmar is a Visiting DAAD Fellow at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, University of Erfurt, Germany. He is also Professor of International Relations at the University of Karachi and Director, Program on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution.

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