Their
Country Left Them!
By Anwar khan
President, OBAT Helpers Inc.
Plainfield, IN
The stranded Pakistanis in
Bangladesh, a forgotten people, need our help
and assistance. Most of us don’t know about
them and their misery. After the fall of Dacca,
they have been living in camps for the last three
decades without help or support from the outside
world. We need to make readers aware of this human
tragedy. These Pakistanis have given immense sacrifices
for Pakistan and we need to help them in whatever
way we can.
The stranded Pakistanis, who are also referred
to as Biharis, have a population of almost 250
thousand. They are compelled to live in more than
60 camps in different cities of Bangladesh. They
have been virtually in the Dark Ages. We talk
about refugee camps around the world but the stranded
Pakistanis remain indisputably the most neglected
people of the world. Here are some details that
may help your readers to understand the plight
and sufferings of these Pakistanis.
Who are they? The history of the Bihari refugees
goes back to the partition of India in 1947. Before
the British departed from India, the Indian sub-continent
was divided into two countries - India and Pakistan.
Pakistan consisted of two wings, East Pakistan
and West Pakistan, which were separated by thousand
miles of Indian territory.
During the partition in 1947 the people called
‘stranded Pakistanis’ today, migrated
from various parts of India, mostly from the province
of Bihar to East Pakistan (present Bangladesh).
This was their new home to fulfill their dreams.
In December 1971, East Pakistan became the independent
state of Bangladesh, and the Pakistanis of Bihari
origin found themselves abandoned after the army
and civilian officials left for West Pakistan.
The Biharis were left in limbo living in refugee
camps where they continue to languish to this
day.
Their 'crime' was ‘remaining faithful’
to their adopted country “Pakistan”
in 1971. They have paid, and are still paying,
a terrible price for their loyalty to Pakistan.
But to this day they remain stranded in Bangladesh.
Presently, they are neither citizens of Pakistan
nor Bangladesh, nor India. An entire generation
of Biharis has lost its identity and has been
suffering the consequent demographic stresses.
Why are they suffering? What was the mistake they
made?
1. Leaving India in the first place?
2. Loyalty to Pakistan?
3. Their language and culture?”
4. All the above.
Will someone answer?
There are more pressing questions to be answered.
What is the future of the young generation of
stranded Pakistanis in the camps? Will their future
be like their parents or will it be any different?
Who knows and who can answer?
In July 2004 I visited some camps of stranded
Pakistanis in Northern Bangladesh (Rangpur). It
was an eye-opening journey. Almost all camps lack
basic amenities, privacy, and social life. They
are suffering from poverty, starvation and various
diseases. During my conversation with Mr. Salahuddin
(Chairman, Rangpur camps), I was told that there
are some 12,000 stranded Pakistanis who are living
in the Northern Bangladesh town of Rangpur. They
are mainly housed in 10 Camps and nearby localities.
These people are completely deprived of all the
basic rights and are totally jobless. They have
no permanent source of income or any of governments
and/or NGOS.
The only help they get is from the European Union
- 3 kg wheat for every adult member every month.
But the wheat has not been distributed in the
last couple of months. The people of the Camp
face a serious lack of basic amenities. There
is no proper sanitation. Some camps are completely
unfit for habitation. There are no educational
or medicare facilities. Disease and hunger are
rampant. The old aged, widowed and orphaned segments
of the population are a picture of helplessness.
Most children are completely uneducated and there
is no hope to impart education to them.
In this regard, I want to share some observations
of Barry Bearak who wrote in the New York Times
(May 13, 2000), “The world ceaselessly churns
out human tragedy. The newly conquered. Newly
dispossessed. Newly hungry. Newly diseased. Newly
destitute.
One calamity overtakes another, and the 240,000
‘stranded Pakistanis of Bangladesh’
know they are the leftover unfortunates of distant
yesterdays. For 29 years, they have been spread
across this nation in 66 squalid camps, each a
tightly packed thatch firetrap. They live as refugees,
though theirs is a more peculiar predicament.
They did not leave their country; their country
left them”.
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