The topic of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh is not a new one. A number of books and articles have been written about this pressing issue. Several conferences and seminars have also been held, in addition to offering promises and commitments to these people. Even so, there has been no alleviation of the suffering and ordeal of more than a quarter of a million people who have been languishing in squalid camps across Bangladesh for over 40 years. Since the secession of East Pakistan from West Pakistan and the creation of the new state of Bangladesh on the ruins of East Pakistan, these people have been awaiting anxiously for their return to the country that they elected to live in during the partition of the Indian subcontinent. Under the two-nation theory, which was the basis of India's partition and the creation of Pakistan, the Muslim-majority regions joined Pakistan and the Hindu-majority regions remained part of India. The majority of the people in the eastern state of Bihar were Hindus and Muslims were a minority. In accordance with the theory, Bihar had to remain part of India, and subsequently most Muslims migrated to East Pakistan because of its proximity to their native land. When the civil war broke out in East Pakistan, the Biharis stood against the separation of East Pakistan and made sacrifices for a United Pakistan. Eventually, they were among the worst victims of the war. However, these people were not prepared to embrace the nationality and language of Bangladesh. The people of the new state were also not ready to accept them. Subsequently, they were subjected to killing, looting and displacement.
They have been forced to live in extremely pathetic and destitute conditions in crowded camps where they are deprived of all the requirements for a decent life. All of their hopes of migrating to the country of their choice as well as of speaking their own Urdu language have been shattered. Successive governments in Pakistan offered them promises of repatriation and rehabilitation but all of these have failed to materialize. Even though Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who became prime minister of Pakistan after the separation of Bangladesh, promised to repatriate them, he did not do so. Gen. Zia ul-Haq, who came to power after overthrowing Bhutto's rule through a military coup, was serious about solving the problem of stranded Pakistanis. Once he said: “I will take them to Pakistan even if it is on my back.” Zia took the initiative of setting up an endowment with the objective of enabling their repatriation. This was in cooperation with the Makkah-based Muslim World League (MWL) and Abdullah Omar Naseef, who was then MWL Secretary General. Zia ul-Haq assumed the presidency of the endowment, the board of directors of which included a number of prominent Saudi and Pakistani figures, including Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz, President of the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND). The Punjab provincial government, headed by Nawaz Sharif, donated a large plot of land for the construction of houses for stranded Pakistanis. But the tragic death of Zia dashed all hopes of the repatriation of these people because the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Benazir Bhutto, who took over as prime minister of Pakistan after the death of Zia ul-Haq, showed no interest in the matter. There were reports that during a visit to Bangladesh, Benazir announced that the Biharis would remain in that country forever. When Sharif assumed power as prime minister of Pakistan, there were renewed hopes of reactivating the MWL endowment for Biharis. He expressed his keenness and desire to enliven the endowment and took charge as its president. Sharif managed to construct a number of houses and repatriated some Bihari families after allotting the houses to them. But bad luck continued to haunt the project which was halted by General Pervez Musharraf, who became president after ousting Sharif from power. Musharraf gave up the endowment's presidency and froze the amount in the endowment's bank account in the United States. After Musharraf's exit, the PPP came to power again. There was no change in the policy of the PPP government with regard to the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis. However, there have been renewed hopes for the repatriation of these people after the return of Nawaz Sharif to power following his resounding victory in last year's elections. He promised the stranded Pakistanis that the endowment would be revived in the near future so as to realize the objective of its creation. In light of the efforts being made at national and international levels to solve the problem of stranded Pakistanis, the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) recently organized a symposium in Jeddah titled “Repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh camps on a self-finance basis”. Several prominent figures from the Pakistani expatriate community spoke on the occasion. In their speeches, they highlighted the moral responsibility of the Pakistani government to these citizens. They called for exploring various ways and means as well as to map out a new strategy to address this problem. Vice Chairman of the PRC Mohammad Riaz Malik, who chaired the symposium, said that the Council has spared no efforts in repatriating stranded Pakistanis. He also drew attention to the fact that successive governments in Pakistan have failed to address this pressing issue. PRC Jeddah Convener Syed Ehsan-ul-Haque presented a proposal for the repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis on a self-finance basis. Under the proposal, these people would be supported by creating job opportunities for qualified candidates among them in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. According to the proposal, Bangladesh should be included in the Rabita Trust, because it can play an important role in providing protection and security to the stranded Pakistanis in their camps. This will also allow some of these people who are willing to settle in Bangladesh to secure legal status for the same. In my next article, I will shed light on the salient features of the proposal prepared by Syed Ehsan-ul-Haque, which hopefully will contribute to solving the problem of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh.
— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
