ANOTHER Dec. 16 has come. It was on Dec. 16, 1971, that the tragic saga of the stranded Biharis started, with around 300,000 of them facing the only option to live in some 70 refugee camps scattered in Bangladesh. The story of the creation of Pakistan and Bangladesh has been narrated numerous times in many versions – in support of Bangladesh or Pakistan. Perhaps, each view has its own logic, which may or may not be right, but what has been neglected behind these views, is the dilemma of these descendants of Muslims, who are known in Bangladesh as ‘Biharis' or ‘stranded Pakistanis.' Tamil refugee camps in Sri Lanka were the outcome of the government's decades-long fight with the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, which ended in May this year. The Sri Lankan government still suspects Tamil rebels' blending with the refugees, but it has freed them to move and live in the country within six months after the end of the civil war. Unlike the Tamil ethnic minority, the Biharis of Bangladesh are a voiceless and calm Urdu-speaking minority, who lived in the province of Bihar prior to the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. They migrated to East Pakistan after independence which became Bangladesh in 1971. Many Urdu-speaking residents insisted that they be repatriated to Pakistan. They were called the “stranded Pakistanis” in the new nation of Bangladesh. Today, we see people in both Pakistan and Bangladesh, enjoying the fruits of independence, but these forgotten people, who have been stranded for generations due to their opposition to the separation of East Pakistan, are still left to live without hopes and dreams. After the fall of Dhaka, some 535,000 Pakistanis had registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Bangladesh and had made known their inclination to shift to West Pakistan. But Pakistan accepted the return of only 173,000 Pakistanis and introduced conditions on who or how many people shall be accepted. Many citizens of West Pakistan raised their voices against curbs and conditions on the repatriation of Biharis – who became the first group of a people without a state as Bangladesh did not acknowledge them as citizens either. After realizing that Pakistan was not going to repatriate them, these Pakistanis in Bangladesh continued to come to Pakistan by whatever means available to them. Observing the issue of stranded Pakistanis, I realized one thing: If you do not want to solve an issue and want to cash it for political reasons or do not intend to help, then just give the “lollypop” of an unfeasible and an impractical plan. The dilemma of these stateless Biharis has been politicized in the same manner. Many high profile plans were made to be abandoned later. Many political parties gave false hopes with their unfeasible plans. The cold attitude of authorities has intensified the sufferings of around two generations of Biharis. However, the establishment of the Rabita Trust on the initiative of the former secretary general of the Muslim World League, Dr. Abdullah Omer Naseef, in cooperation with the former president of Pakistan, Zia-ul-Haq, showed a ray of hope for once. But unfortunately, the Rabita Trust was frozen in October 2001. The Rabita Trust should be reactivated as its freezing has clogged the process of repatriation. Due to the paucity of the Trust funds, the Jeddah-based Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) developed the proposal of repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh on a “Self-Finance Scheme” which is feasible and can pave the way for a resolution of this long-standing issue. However, it can be implemented only by the support of higher authorities. The PRC has been striving hard to support all efforts of various international agencies in the interest of these stranded people. The Dhaka High Court approved citizenship and voting rights in 2008 for about 150,000 refugees, who were minors during, or born after, the Bangladesh's war of independence in 1971. The ruling did not cover refugees who were adults at the time of independence. This ruling is not useful for the stranded Biharis. Obviously, these 150,000 refugees, who were born after 1971, cannot abandon their parents and grandparents. Moreover, no comprehensible arrangement has been offered to them about their place of living and source of earning. Reality shows once again the impracticability and the inhospitable nature of the plan. A plan to build low-cost houses with soft loans for those who want to settle in Bangladesh is what is really needed there. The state of these deprived Biharis is a blot on the dignity and pride of Muslims, as well as the civilized world. No refugee status has been granted to the stranded Biharis so far by the United Nations. Just as the UN pressured Sri Lanka for the rights of Tamil refugees, it should also ensure a just solution for the stranded Biharis. I sometimes question why – despite the promises of many political icons and international organizations to resolve this issue – nothing substantial is being done? Do they not feel awkward for doing nothing after pledging so many vows?
