Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi Pakistanis all over the world recently celebrated the nation's 69th Independence Day. The day represents the realization of the dream of the Muslims in the Indian subcontinent to have a nation of their own, thanks to the charismatic leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and other leaders of the Muslim League. It was a dream cherished by the eminent Muslim thinkers and politicians of the subcontinent ever since the beginning of the 20th century. The world-renowned Muslim scholar and philosopher of the medieval era Abu Al-Rayhan Muhammad Bin Ahmad Al-Biruni, known as Al-Biruni, wrote a book about Indian culture. The book, called “Critical study of what India says, whether accepted by reason or refused” deals with the ideologies, customs and traditions of Hindus in their marriage, cuisine, festivals, lifestyle, language and other features. Al-Biruni explains in this and some other books that there are big differences between Hindus and Muslims and as such they cannot live together in a single country. With the passage of time, Muslims became one of the most backward communities in the subcontinent during British rule. After the failure of the First Independent Struggle in 1857, they were deprived of their basic rights and were neglected in every sphere of life. At that time, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan launched the Aligarh Movement with the aim of helping Muslims to regain a respectable position. Later, Jinnah came to save Muslims when they were denied their basic rights, especially political representation. When he found that rallying behind the Indian National Congress would not help them, he quit the party and joined the Muslim League. He worked with Allama Iqbal, and other Muslim leaders who adopted the Pakistan Resolution at the annual meeting of the Muslim League held in Lahore in 1940. With this, the Muslim League leaders under Jinnah led the struggle for the creation of a separate nation for Muslims by incorporating all the Muslim majority regions in the country. They insisted that it was the right of every Muslim in the subcontinent to move to the new nation if they wanted to do so. In 1947, Pakistan became an independent nation and millions of Muslims from all parts of the country moved to the new nation. Muslims from the eastern Indian state of Bihar moved to East Pakistan because of its proximity. These people, who are known as Biharis, made great sacrifices to realize their ambition of living in the nation of their choice. Later, when East Pakistan seceded and created the new state of Bangladesh, the Biharis felt cheated as they were not welcome in the new state because of their allegiance to the Pakistan Army during the civil war. Subsequently, many of them were killed and they were driven out of their homes and their property was confiscated. As a result of this, they were forced to move to squalid and crowded camps where they were deprived of even the basic amenities of life. These stranded Pakistanis are still living with the hope of being repatriated one day to Pakistan. However, they are yet to realize their dream as successive governments in Pakistan have failed to fulfill their promises in this regard. The stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh celebrate the Independence Day of Pakistan and other national festival occasions. They exchange greetings and wish to be remembered by their brothers in Pakistan. Every Eid, they hope that by the next Eid there will be a solution to their problems through repatriation to the country of their choice. But, unfortunately, this is yet to happen apparently due to political reasons. Some Pakistanis are not ready to recognize them and this is coupled with negligence on the part of the government. However, there are some in Pakistan and elsewhere as well as some NGOs who have been striving to alleviate the suffering of more than quarter of a million people who have been leading a desperate life in miserable conditions for over 44 years. The Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) and the Muslim Welfare Development Organization (MWDO) as well as some charity organizations are in the forefront of this initiative. The PRC recently organized a function in Jeddah to mark Pakistan's Independence Day. All those who spoke on the occasion dealt with the pathetic condition of the stranded Pakistanis and demanded that the government of Pakistan take quick action for the repatriation and rehabilitation of these people either by reviving the Rabita Endowment, which was created by the government of President General Zia-ul-Haq in cooperation with the Makkah-based Muslim World League while Dr. Abdullah Omar Nasif was its secretary general. They also proposed to resolve the issue by implementing the self-financing plan mooted by the PRC. In his speech, Abu Farhan Siddiqui, chief organizer of MWDO-Jeddah, highlighted his organization's activities for the stranded Pakistanis living in Bangladeshi camps, especially in the fields of health and education. He requested that Pakistanis donate the price of their sacrificial meat so as to support these people. In the keynote speech, I thanked the PRC, saying that organizing the event is a big honor to all Pakistanis. I also lauded the great efforts being made at all levels and on all occasions to draw attention to the plight of the stranded Pakistanis. I also voiced regret that Pakistan's Supreme Court had dismissed a petition filed by an NGO seeking the apex court's intervention to do justice to these people. The court rejected the petition after citing some procedural discrepancies. While emphasizing that blocking these Pakistanis from being repatriated to their country on whatever pretext is harmful to Pakistan and Pakistanis, I asked Pakistani lawyers to file another petition in the Supreme Court to secure the rights of the Pakistani citizens in Bangladesh. Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
