Though the ruling only applies to half of the stateless Biharis (those who were minors at independence, or were born afterwards), its still a step in the right direction. I sincerely hope they follow through with this.
Citizenship for Bihari refugees
**Some 150,000 Urdu-speaking Muslim refugees have the right to be Bangladesh citizens, a court has ruled. The Dhaka high court ruling applies to those who were minors when Bangladesh won independence in 1971 or born after. The Biharis, as they are known locally, moved from India to what was then East Pakistan following partition in 1947. **
Many of them were stranded in the majority Bengali-speaking Bangladesh without citizenship when the country attained independence from Pakistan.
Correspondents say the issue has been controversial in Bangladesh because many of the Biharis sided with Pakistan during the war.
The high court said refugees who were minors at the time of Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971 and those who were born after would also gain the right to vote.
The judgement does not cover refugees who were adults at the time of independence.
There are about 300,000 Biharis located in more than 60 camps in Dhaka and across the country.
They are Urdu-speaking people, mainly from the Indian state of Bihar, who moved to Bengal at the time of partition.
During the Bangladesh war of independence they supported Pakistan, but were denied permission to emigrate.
As a result, they faced widespread discrimination in Bengali-speaking Bangladesh.
Even today they say it is harder for them to get jobs or get their children into schools.
Re: 37 Years On, 150,000 Biharis Refugees Finally Granted Bangladeshi Citizenship
Finally someone granted those stranded people a place to live, a place they can call "country", though citizenship is just a legal formality for them. Its shame Pakistan couldn't bring them all to the homeland.
Finally someone granted those stranded people a place to live, a place they can call "country", though citizenship is just a legal formality for them. Its shame Pakistan couldn't bring them all to the homeland.
If these Beharis were patriot, they would have migrated to Pakistan along with their mohajir/Behari brothers to Karachi. I doubt they were pro-Pakistan. They could be Indians in disguise. You will see they will bring instability to Bangladesh soon. We should not have accepted them.
Re: 37 Years On, 150,000 Biharis Refugees Finally Granted Bangladeshi Citizenship
Bengalis are merciful and these 150,000 biharis are the ones who want citizenship even though their parents and grandparents are against it.
There will be no instability because there are a lot of Biharis who are established and have Bangladeshi citizenship from before. Not all Biharis in Bangladesh are poor. A lot of Biharis in BD are rich and they intermarriaged with Bengalis. One of the Bengalis I met has Bihari cousins on his mom side. Some Bengalis are also half Punjabi so there's alot of mix.
The rest of the Biharis who are not going to be citizens are the ones who still want to go to Pakistan, no one is stopping them, but the Pakistani government refused to have them.
Bengalis are diverse as they intermix easily and having 150,000 urdu speaking Biharis will only help make the culture in Bangladesh more colorful and diverse. I'm glad the Bangladeshi government are doing this, these Urdu speaking people deserve justice.
I'm hoping with the acceptance of more Biharis to the main stream they would start releasing Urdu entertainment in Bangladesh.
If these Beharis were patriot, they would have migrated to Pakistan along with their mohajir/Behari brothers to Karachi. .
A very misguided and careless comment. For these Biharis, BD (East Pakistan) was closest to move to. How can one jusdge patriotism? They sided with Pakistan during division in 1947 and then in 1971.
I doubt they were pro-Pakistan. They could be Indians in disguise. You will see they will bring instability to Bangladesh soon. We should not have accepted them.
Again a misguided comment. THEY WERE AND ARE PRO-PAKISTAN.
Any person who lived in united India was considered Indian/Bharati. After division they were Pakistani. So what make you think they could be Indians in disguise?
Instaibility to Pakistan was brought by West Pakistani govt not recognizing East Pakistani majority win in election inciting people of East Pakistan/Bengalis against anyone who was not bengali and an advantage taken by India.
Bihari people got stranded there and people like you make comments without any basis...that they should have come to Karachi instead!!
Please read below carefully;
With same token..hypothetically speaking if a reverse situation would have happened such as if West Pakistan was the one who was denied of its right by East Pakistani Bengalis during election and West Pakistan had become a different country with a different name....ALL OF THE EAST PUNJABIS MIGRATING TO WEST PUNJAB WOULD BE REGARDED AS UNPATRIOTIC BY YOU.!!
You would have said...Oh they should have migrated to East Pakistan instead if they wanted to be Pakistani.
Off course they spoke the same language and had similar culture so they are very patriotic in your view.
A very misguided and careless comment. For these Biharis, BD (East Pakistan) was closest to move to. How can one jusdge patriotism? They sided with Pakistan during division in 1947 and then in 1971.
Again a misguided comment. THEY WERE AND ARE PRO-PAKISTAN.
Any person who lived in united India was considered Indian/Bharati. After division they were Pakistani. So what make you think they could be Indians in disguise?
Instaibility to Pakistan was brought by West Pakistani govt not recognizing East Pakistani majority win in election inciting people of East Pakistan/Bengalis against anyone who was not bengali and an advantage taken by India.
Bihari people got stranded there and people like you make comments without any basis...that they should have come to Karachi instead!!
Please read below carefully;
With same token..hypothetically speaking if a reverse situation would have happened such as if West Pakistan was the one who was denied of its right by East Pakistani Bengalis during election and West Pakistan had become a different country with a different name....ALL OF THE EAST PUNJABIS MIGRATING TO WEST PUNJAB WOULD BE REGARDED AS UNPATRIOTIC BY YOU.!!
You would have said...Oh they should have migrated to East Pakistan instead if they wanted to be Pakistani.
Off course they spoke the same language and had similar culture so they are very patriotic in your view.
My point was that why did they migrate to the Eastern side instead of western side during the 1971 war? Plus, someone told me that they fought along with Mukti Bahini(little muslims who sold their soul) against Pakistani army and Beharis in Bangladesh were responsible for many Pakistani deaths. Despite that, we are liberal people and if we can have ghaddars like Black king kong Altaf Hussein who call taqseem-e-hind a grave mistake, we would have allowed them in Pakistan- but we already have lot of conflict in the Sindh region. Khair, I start getting angry. I am glad they are where they belong. I fail to understand why did it take so long for Bengali huqumat to grant them green card.
My point was that why did they migrate to the Eastern side instead of western side during the 1971 war?
?
They didn't migrate to East Pakistan in 1971...they came during Partition. And they chose the eastern wing because it was geographically closer to Bihar, and safer to get to than West Pakistan.
Plus, someone told me that they fought along with Mukti Bahini
The whole reason they were denied Bangladeshi citizenship and sent to concentration camps was because they sided with Pakistan during the '71 war.
Re: 37 Years On, 150,000 Biharis Refugees Finally Granted Bangladeshi Citizenship
Yes it is better for them. If they had come to Pakistan, they might have faced further hatred as Sindhi people do not want any more aliens on their land! Sindh may bihari na khapan! Sindh aalmi yateem khana nahee hia!
That is no reason to come to Pakistan... There are those who did not side with Pakistan in 1947, should we send them to India?
It is, because in circumstances when west pakistan was in dire need of support , these were the people who stood with them. They supported also the atrocities committed by the west pakistani army on the east. They would have faced a bangladeshi backlash against these people after its creation. They might in fact would have had to face the backlash for these many years.!!!
Coming to India and pakistan nobody would be a fool to have supported India and stayed in pakistan. :)
My point was that why did they migrate to the Eastern side instead of western side during the 1971 war? Plus, someone told me that they fought along with Mukti Bahini(little muslims who sold their soul) against Pakistani army and Beharis in Bangladesh were responsible for many Pakistani deaths. Despite that, we are liberal people and if we can have ghaddars like Black king kong Altaf Hussein who call taqseem-e-hind a grave mistake, we would have allowed them in Pakistan- but we already have lot of conflict in the Sindh region. Khair, I start getting angry. I am glad they are where they belong. I fail to understand why did it take so long for Bengali huqumat to grant them green card.
What "someone" told you is just not true.
Please do not make your mind on things which someone tells you..rather seek information.
Like someone else wrote earlier...Biharis did not side with bengalis and mukti bahnis or india in 1971...they sided with unied Pakistan and had flag of Pakistan waved despite bengalis turned against west Pakistan. BTW not all bengalis were against west Pakistan. a mob mentality was created by AL and Mujeeb and common people were killed by many different forces in a state of chaos. It was difficult to be sure who was friend and who was foe. India jumped in to the war with whatever reason it could find and took advantege of the situation by further creating divide between bengalis and Pakistani people and army...training camps were made in India for guerillas.
Anyway, Biharis were already there since 1947 and how could they migrate to west Pakistan in 1971...when they could not migrate for so many years!!!?
No one has been accepting them.
There is lack of sympathy among some people like you and many people who have been in power/politics based on many different reasons and BD is accepting some biharis out of no other better choices left.
If Pakistan accpets biharis as Pakistani then whole pendora box will be opened and selfish people will say why? Do we need these Bhookay people??
They will forget that Pakistan was not made based on economy......it was made on religious basis. In essence, they got the punishment of siding with Pakistan TWICE....once in 1947 then again in 1971!
Thats why Altaf and Indians say.............. the reason why Pakistan was made was wrong.
It is, because in circumstances when west pakistan was in dire need of support , these were the people who stood with them. They supported also the atrocities committed by the west pakistani army on the east. They would have faced a bangladeshi backlash against these people after its creation. They might in fact would have had to face the backlash for these many years.!!!
Coming to India and pakistan nobody would be a fool to have supported India and stayed in pakistan. :)
Who did and who did not is open for discussion but the question remains..
Those who did not side with Pakistan should they be sent to India?