Biharis in Bangladesh seek citizenship

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA, APRIL 30. After the creation of Bangladesh 29 years ago, a number of Urdu-speaking people, known as Biharis, have now started realising that their older generations had committed a mistake by not accepting Bangladeshi citizenship then itself.

This section, especially the youth, while demanding citizenship, puts forward arguments that they were born in the independent Bangladesh and hence there is no reason to deny them citizenship. They also demanded political, social and economic rehabilitation.

The older generation of the Biharis, who first migrated from Bihar in the middle 1947, had not only opted for Pakistani citizenship after the Pakistani army was forced to surrender in Dhaka, but also took up arms along with the Pakistanis to suppress the freedom-loving Bengalis, and till date have not been allowed to integrate with the mainstream Bengali population.

Nonetheless, the new thinking came up during an inter-community dialogue on the ``Future of the Urdu-speaking youth living in the camps'' held recently at the Centre for Higher Studies in Social Sciences of the Dhaka University. The programme was organised by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit an NGO.

Four papers were presented by the students and youth representatives of the Urdu-speaking community.

Mohammad Hasan, a representative of the Urdu-speaking camp dwellers, observed that the decision of the older generation had severely handicapped the youth in respect to their education. Illiteracy had contributed to their ignorance and poor economic condition was compelling students to quit studies. Mr. Hasan also claimed that Urdu-speaking children were not admitted in Government schools if they gave their camp address. He said though there were some initiatives at the non-governmental level, they were inadequate compared to the need.

While discussing the conditions of women in the camps, Ms. Syeda Shabana, another representative, highlighted lack of opportunities for education. Women were skilled in handicrafts but did not receive fair wages. In addition, due to pervasive illiteracy and ignorance, early marriage was rampant in the camps. This resulted in the girl child shouldering the responsibility of a family at an age when she should study.

Ms. Shabana further said marriage prospects had become dim for women and their families were subjected to demands of exorbitant dowry. She appealed to eminent intellectuals, and women, human rights and non- governmental organisaitons to extend support to their cause.

Nurul Islam said his generation was paying a heavy price for the ``wrong decisions'' taken by older generation. Mr. Islam said though the leaders knew that repatriation to Pakistan was never a viable option, they pursued such a policy. He also alleged that tolls were collected from unsuspecting camp-dwellers by selling `census forms for repatriation' to different countries, including Pakistan.

Mr. Khalid Hossain called upon the youth not to pay heed to the advice of older folks about repatriation but to concentrate on raising demands for integration in Bangladesh.

A human rights activist advocate Nizamul Huq Nasim, called upon the Government and civil society to support the demands of the Urdu- speaking community to obtain citizenship. A lawyer, Mr. Hassan Ariff, said citizenship was a complex issue, but if the Government decided in favour of conferring citizenship on certain categories of people there was no legal bar.

Dr. C. R. Akbar urged that the problems be taken up for discussion at the national level.

This is for the first time such a discussion took place in Bangladesh as doubts persist over the future of the Urdu-speaking people languishing camps for the last 29 years. This is also the first time that the younger generation of Biharis showed a changed attitude towards Pakistan, especially after a bleak prospect of repatriation to their ``real home'' - Pakistan.

Even after repeated and categorical assurances by the Pakistani heads of government at different times, their repatriation has not been possible till date. The ``forgotten people'' live in camps in sub-human conditions, earning their livelihood by various means, while their children's future appears bleak.

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