In 1947, when Pakistan was created, a large number of Urdu-speaking Muslims from the Bihar region of India migrated to East Pakistan.[1] During the 1971 war in which Bengali-speaking people fought for the emergence of East Pakistan as the independent state of Bangladesh, most Biharis expressed their loyalty to the state of Pakistan. After the war, thousands of them went to West Pakistan, now simply Pakistan. However, most of these Pakistanis remained stranded in Bangladesh; they are now known as "Stranded Pakistanis," or sometimes simply as Biharis.
The "Stranded Pakistanis" have been discriminated against in Bangladesh by its new rulers, who came from the majority Bengali-speaking community. Often, they have lived in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Over the past few decades, successive Pakistani governments have failed to repatriate and rehabilitate them in Pakistan.
In February 2010, a delegation of leaders representing the Stranded Pakistanis visited Pakistan and met with senior journalists, politicians, and religious leaders, and stressed their need to be repatriated to Pakistan.
In a recent article, titled "Stranded Pakistanis – Awaiting the Nation's Attention," former Pakistani lawmaker and religious scholar Dr. Farid Ahmad Paracha drew attention to their plight.
Following are excerpts from the article:[2]
"These Pakistanis Were Stranded in Camps [Located] at Different Places" in Bangladesh, Where Life Is "Shameful for Humanity"
"The delegation of the Stranded Pakistanis' General Repatriation Committee of Bangladesh includes its general secretary Shaukat Ali and Haroon-ur-Rashid, son of its founder member and the lifelong president of the committee, the late Mohammad Naseem Khan. The delegation called on the Emir of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Syed Munawar Hasan; Majeed Nizami, the senior journalist and editor of Nawa-i-Waqt newspaper; and other leaders…
"With the secession of East Pakistan in 1971, the people who had migrated to East Pakistan from Bihar and other areas of India at the time of foundation of Pakistan became strangers in their own country. They had come to Pakistan [i.e. East Pakistan] and had left India. And now that part of Pakistan had become Bangladesh. They had come to Pakistan leaving behind their homes and properties in the name of La-Ilaha ill-Allah [i.e. basic Islamic belief that 'there is no god but Allah] and now they didn't want to change their identity from Pakistani to Bangladeshi, a country which has been created on a linguistic basis.
"So these Pakistanis were stranded in camps [located] at different places in [Bangladesh], and for some 40 years these Pakistani brethren have been forced to live with all their family members in small dark rooms 8x8 square meters. [These camps have] few public toilets and no proper sewage system. I visited those camps situated in and around Dhaka [the capital of Bangladesh] during my visit to Bangladesh some years ago. I found there dirty, overflowing gutters, and life there was shameful for humanity. Can human beings live in such a state? What crime did these Pakistanis commit that they are forced to bear such punishment? Could there be any fault other than their loyalty to Islam and Pakistan? These questions keep striking every sensitive Pakistani.
"There are about 70 such camps spread over 13 districts of Bangladesh. There are no civic amenities available in these camps. Water supplies and water outlets are negligible. The camp residents are deprived of education, medical facilities, warm clothes and blankets. The Rabita Alam-e-Islami [Muslim World League] of Saudi Arabia had established a fund for the repatriation of these Pakistanis to Pakistan, and had established its offices in the two countries for this goal, but no action could practically be taken in this direction.
"In 1991, Haji Mohammad Naseem Khan [of Rabita Alam-e-Islami] visited Pakistan and called on then-Pakistani Prime Minister Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif, and as a result of that meeting 56 families of the Stranded Pakistanis were rehabilitated in the newly erected Mian Channu colony in 1993 [in Punjab province]. The late Ghulam Haider Wain [former chief minister of Punjab] had also taken great interest in this cause. The Jamat-e-Islami of Pakistan has also helped these Pakistanis through all means. Voices were also raised in the National Assembly in their favor."
"If We Can Shelter Three Million Afghan Refugees, Why Can't We Bring Back These Pakistani Brethren?"
"We consider that these 300,000 people can live in Pakistan. If we can shelter three million Afghan refugees in our country [following the 1980s war in Afghanistan] for many years, why can't we bring back these Pakistani brethren? If there is any reservation in rehabilitating them in the Sindh province alone, they could be rehabilitated in different places in the country. And their identity cards and voter lists could also be restricted to different areas.
"The nation hopes rightfully that the government of Pakistan, its parliament, human rights organizations and other religious and political organizations will play their part in relation to these Stranded Pakistanis so that these people, who have been trying to return to their country for about past 40 years, can breathe in their country."
