breaking ruling on Sunday that the children of Urdu-speaking Muslims euphemistically called “Bihari” awaiting repatriation to Pakistan for over 37 years should be granted Bangladeshi citizenship, is of course, a welcome news for the over 300,000 unfortunate people languishing in squalid UN and Dhaka-run refugee camps outside the capital and other towns. These hapless Biharis have suffered a lot due to the procrastination shown by successive regimes in Pakistan. Islamabad, right from Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to the present Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani, has dithered on many an initiative launched for their repatriation by Saudi Arabia and some Muslim organizations. “The children who were minor in 1971 or born after the independence of Bangladesh are citizens of Bangladesh,” the court said in its ruling on a petition by a group of Bihari Muslims. “They are also eligible to be enrolled as voters in Bangladesh,” said the ruling. The court ruling is but only half the battle won. Still the fate of scores of the first-generation Biharis, who are hoping against hope of getting repatriated, hangs in balance. Many of these first-generation stranded Pakistanis have finally shut their eyes and made cemeteries in Bangladesh their homes. It is an irony that Pakistan did not show any generosity of spirit toward these patriotic Pakistanis, who migrated to former East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) from India following the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, and sided with the Pakistan army during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. Saudi Arabia, in keeping with its well-known tradition of extending both moral and financial support to improve the lot of distressed Muslims anywhere in the world, first took steps for the repatriation of the tormented Muslims to Pakistan during King Faisal's rule. Under the auspices of Muslim World League, Saudi Arabia did everything humanly possible to provide the much-needed succor to the unfortunate people who lost everything they had for the simple reason that they showed their loyalty towards their country. Patriotic these now stateless people were and they continue to be so irrespective of the fact that they got a shabby, cold-shoulder treatment from the country they love. Reports have appeared that the Biharis, born after the 1971 independence, to get Bangladeshi citizenship were dissuaded to pursue their campaign by elders from their first generation. What more proof of patriotism is required from them, only the powers that be in the __
