I have written a number of articles about the Biharis and the sacrifices that they have made for Pakistan. After the partition of the subcontinent between India and Pakistan, these people chose to abandon their native land and property in the Indian province of Bihar in order to join the new state of Pakistan. Due to the proximity of East Pakistan, they migrated to that part of United Pakistan. They made sacrifices once again when Bengalis decided to secede from Pakistan and establish the new state of Bangladesh. During the nine-month civil war, Biharis stood by the Pakistan army against secession. They made a lot of sacrifices so as to keep Pakistan united. They were the biggest losers when the Indian army intervened in the civil war in favor of the Bengalis. Consequently, Pakistan lost its eastern part and the Pakistani prisoners of war were taken to India. During that time, Biharis were subjected to revenge by Bengalis who considered them to be enemies. They were forced to live in squalid camps in extremely miserable conditions. However, they were hopeful of being repatriated one day to Pakistan. Despite repeated promises of repatriation and rehabilitation by successive Pakistan governments, the Biharis have been destined to languish in squalid camps across Bangladesh and have been subjected to all types of humiliation and aggression in a society which has for over four decades remained hostile to them. There have recently been further crimes perpetrated against these people. An official of the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) has confirmed newspaper reports that mobs of more than 500 armed Bengalis have attacked some of the camps of the stranded Pakistanis. The attackers torched the tents while women and children were inside, and more than 10 stranded Pakistanis were burned to death. The Bangladeshi authorities failed to do anything to prevent this heinous crime or to take punitive action against the criminals who managed to escape after committing the crime. According to documented information made available by the PRC, more than 12 people were killed and many others injured. This was not for the first time that stranded Pakistanis have been attacked by Bengali extremists who can neither forget nor forgive them for their support for a united Pakistan. The stranded Pakistanis have been subjected to frequent aggression from Bengali extremists, and with no one to stop the extremists, the Biharis remain victims of the negligence of the Pakistani authorities. The authorities have abandoned their moral duty as well as their national and humanitarian obligations toward these people who are being subjected to humiliation, aggression and abuses in Bangladesh. Syed Ehsan-ul-Haque, a PRC official, said that some Bengali people have engaged in confiscating the relief supplies dispatched to stranded Pakistanis. For example, some unscrupulous persons have managed to take possession of a certain quantity of sacrificial meat sent to these destitute people this year by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The PRC official informed the IDB about what happened to the sacrificial meat meant for these people. Subsequently, the IDB sent another consignment and received confirmation that it had reached the people who have been deprived of their rights, the foremost of which was their right to safeguard their Pakistani identity, which they have chosen since the partition of the subcontinent. These people fought for this identity and made sacrifices for it when the Bengalis abandoned them. When Nawaz Sharif was first prime minister of Pakistan and president of the Muslim World League Endowment to repatriate and rehabilitate stranded Pakistanis, he made major headway in their repatriation. However, to date there have not been any major changes in the condition of these people, as well as in their demand for repatriation to Pakistan. The miserable conditions of the stranded Pakistanis and the hostility of Bengalis toward them remains unchanged. Allah has honored Nawaz Sharif by enabling him to return to power. Since Allah has brought him victory over his enemies and made him responsible for all Pakistanis, he must remember that these Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh are an integral part of Pakistani society. Therefore, he has to shoulder his moral, national and humanitarian responsibilities toward these people who are Pakistanis. They were Pakistanis when they migrated to East Pakistan. They were Pakistanis when they stood by the Pakistan army in order to safeguard the unity of Pakistan. They were Pakistanis when they were rejected by the Bengali community because of their hostility to them. They were Pakistanis when they refused to exchange their identity for the identity of any other people, and they are still Pakistanis because they speak Urdu, the language of Pakistan. — Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
