IN October last year, I wrote a number of articles in this newspaper about Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh (Biharis). The articles shed light on the sacrifices made by Biharis for the creation of an independent state of Pakistan as well as on the suffering and ordeal that they had to undergo later due to the secession of East Pakistan from West Pakistan and the subsequent foundation of the new state of Bangladesh. These people were not ready to relinquish either their Pakistani identity or their mother tongue of Urdu, and they lived with the hope of one day joining the motherland for which they had made so many sacrifices. Because of this, they have had to live in appalling conditions in overcrowded tents in Bangladesh and they are still victims of poverty, hunger and disease. The new nation of Bangladesh did not welcome them, nor did they want to integrate with its society or learn its language. On the other hand, the nation which they preferred to live in welcomed them in general and exerted efforts to receive them after giving equal consideration to those who had made similar sacrifices for the nation. There were several individual and intermittent efforts to repatriate the Biharis to Pakistan. The most significant among them was made by Nawaz Sharif when he was the chief minister of Punjab province. He donated land to build a residential city to accommodate all the Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh during the rule of President Zia ul-Haq. An endowment fund was set up under the aegis of the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL) in cooperation with the government of Pakistan. According to the plan, the endowment would finance and make the necessary arrangements to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh since its secession from Pakistan in 1971. Zia ul-Haq took over the presidency of the endowment whose founding committee members included several prominent Saudi and Pakistani figures, including President of the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, who was also second president of the endowment. Unfortunately, the efforts to realize the goal of the endowment ended with the death of Zia ul-Haq. His successor Benazir Bhutto the leader of the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) showed no interest in the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis. When she visited Bangladesh, Benazir reportedly said that Biharis should remain in Bangladesh forever. However, when Nawaz Sharif took over power as the next prime minister, there were renewed hopes about activating the project. He assumed the presidency of the endowment and began constructing residential units. Accordingly, a large number of houses were built and several Bihari families who had been repatriated were settled there. However, the project was halted following the victory of PPP in the next elections. Later, when Nawaz Sharif came to power for the second time, the project was reactivated. However, he was ousted in a military coup orchestrated by the army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf. It was Musharraf who shelved the project. He was not interested in addressing the issue of the stranded Pakistanis or in completing the residential city project that would have benefited a considerable number of the 250,000 people who are languishing in camps in extremely miserable conditions. The exit of Musharraf and the return of PPP to power did not produce any positive results. President Asif Ali Zardari was no different from his wife Benazir Bhutto as far as the stranded Pakistanis were concerned. We never heard of any move on the part of his PPP government to improve the appalling conditions of Biharis. Now, it is the turn of Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister for the third time. He was victorious in an election that won accolades from the entire world for its freedom and fairness. With Sharif's return to power, there has been renewed hope of reactivating the project for the repatriation of Biharis. I am fully confident that Allah will make the endowment successful so as to end the long years of suffering and the ordeal of the stranded Pakistanis, and to ensure their safe repatriation to Pakistan. I hope that Sharif will make this one of his priorities and will complete the project that he launched nearly 30 years ago but was unable to complete due to various reasons that were entirely beyond his control. I have learned from sources that have close contacts with leaders of these poor people that their camps were filled with joy and delight from the moment they heard about the victory of Sharif's party in the elections. They are fully aware of the sincere efforts made by Sharif earlier in order to address their problems and help them realize their dream of returning to the land for which they have been longing for 42 years. Those who wrote in this newspaper, including myself, in order to draw attention to the desperate situation of Bihari Muslims, request Nawaz Sharif to resume the project that he started earlier. We are making an appeal to him to convene the meeting of the members of the endowment, of which he is now once again president, in order to address the issue of Biharis, and put an end to the ordeal of these poor people who are languishing in overcrowded camps and huts. They are leading a miserable life characterized by abject poverty, deadly diseases and illiteracy. After all, they are all Pakistanis and Almighty Allah has bestowed on you, Nawaz Sharif, the power to rule Pakistanis. You are the right person elected to serve them as well as to solve their problems.
— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
