There are over 200000 people living in Bangladesh today who are not part of any nation. They used to belong to Pakistan before Bangladesh was formed and were residents of what is now Bangladesh.

They were urdu speaking non-Bengalis in Bangladesh, people who were professionals, clerks, businessmen and bureaucrats before the formation of Bangladesh. They came from parts of modern India during the times of partition. And they may have resisted the formation of independent Bangladesh. Now the Pakistani government will not take them back and the Bangladeshi government will not grant them citizenship.

The implications are devastating: they do not have legal means of employment in Bangladesh, their children cannot go to school and they have no access to health care, to justice, to shelter or to any other amenity that a state promises its people. Thus, they have lived in camps and have been oppressed and exploited over the last thirty years with no recourse to any justice. They have among the highest rates of poverty, highest mortality rates and the lowest education indices within the Bangladeshi community.

Today, one Pakistani expatriate living in the US – Mr. Syed Kamal – has taken it onto himself to bring justice to these people – people who cannot be called refugees for they continue to live in their own land, nor can they be called displaced. Having grown up in Pakistan and being aware of the politics of the 70s, Mr Kamal believes he has a strong understanding of the situation.

When Bangladesh was formed, all non-Bengali citizens were rounded up into camps. Thousands were killed and there were innumerable instances of violence perpetrated against them. These people stayed in the camps hoping that time would help abate the violence and they could move back. That was not to be; their property was annexed by the state, their bank accounts and passports seized and they continue to be stateless people. Syed Kamal points out that this was not done even when India and Pakistan separated into two states. This is in violation of the UN human rights charter – Pakistan and Bangladesh being signatories. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states that, “Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality, nor denied the right to change his nationality.”

Mr. Kamal has his theory about why Pakistan did not take them back. After partition, Mr. Kamal feels, there were many in Pakistan who resented the influx of ‘Indian’ Muslims into Pakistan. The feudal and landed communities were especially resentful since the incoming muslims from India, owing to their past professional credentials and education, took up important bureaucratic positions in Pakistan. Many in Sindh were afraid that there were too many non-Sindhis in Sindh. Prime Minister Bhutto represented the feudal classes as well as the Sindhi community. When East Pakistan became Bangladesh, Prime Minister Bhutto refused to take these urdu speaking people from Bangladesh, argues Mr. Kamal.

Bangladesh, today, has no interest in giving citizenship rights to these people. They provide labor at rates that are way below normal. They are a large community that can be exploited. Called Biharis by the local populace, they work mainly as daily wage laborers, rickshaw pullers, domestic workers and in handloom mills. There are numerous local forces that prohibit any move that recognizes these human beings as part of the Bangladeshi state.

Lawfully, Syed Kamal argues, Pakistan must grant citizenship rights to these people since it guaranteed that all muslims from India could access Pakistani citizenship during Independence – as these people did. Subsequently, with the separation of Bangladesh, since these people did not give up their Pakistani citizenship, they continue to remain Pakistani citizens. Ironically, there are resources available. The government of Pakistan along with the Saudi government had set up a trust fund for refugee rehabilitation which has now grown to Rs 66 Crores. And yet, the Pakistani government refuses to rehabilitate its own people during the worst of their lives.

Syed Kamal argues that this shows the Pakistani government in the worst light ever. Over the last two years, Syed Kamal has been rallying to provide justice to these people. Having found support from prominent lawyers in Pakistan, he seems hopeful. He continues to look for more support.

He can be reached at qalaqund@yahoo.com

References
INTERNMENT CAMPS OF BANGLADESH by Loraine Mirza. Pub: Crescent International, Markham, ONT., Canada, 1998. pp.172.