The article is in Urdu.
I was really surprised to read this article. Apparently the Bengali community in Pakistan has its own political presence in the form of “Pak Muslim Alliance” and they have won a number of seats in the local bodies election. Does anyone have more information about them? Besides citizenship for the Bengalis in Pakistan, what else do you think would be thier political agenda?
ive heard that the people of bengali origin who have lived in (west) pakistan since long before dec 1971 are treated as aliens and bengalis and are not accpeted as pakistanis nor are they issued pakistani citizenship or passports. i'm not sure how true this is but i do know that those 'bengalis' who have been living in pakistan since before bangladesh was created and chose not to leave pakistan, their country, to go to bangladesh are as pakistani as any other punjabi, mohajir, sindhi, pathan or baluchi. so what if their lineage is bengali? if that were the criteria then i think half of pakistan's population would be ripped off the pakistani nationality because every other person has either persian, arabian, roman, chinese, russian, indian blood if not one generation up then atleast 2-3-4-5 generations up.
as a politcal force i think these ppl would at the moment have just one motive; get their status and rights secured and representation accpeted. They might want to work for the Biharis starnded in bangladesh since 1971- the govts seem to be in a ever-sleeping stance on that.
Pakistan is the only country of this world where the language of the immigrants is the national language, and now it's become the first country of this world where the illegal immigrants have their own "legal" political parties. I can only say wah, wah, wah...
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*Originally posted by Haris Zuberi: *
if that were the criteria then i think half of pakistan's population would be ripped off the pakistani nationality because every other person has either persian, arabian, roman, chinese, russian, indian blood if not one generation up then atleast 2-3-4-5 generations up.
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Another victim of Pakistan's mythical ideology. I have never met any Baloch or Pashtun in my life who connected his lineage to Arabs or Turks. Majority of Panjabis and Sindhis are proud Jatt, Gujjar, Arain or Rajput. You must be talking about lower Sindh's Mohajir community, almost all of them are Siddiquis, Syeds, Usmanis, Rizvis and God knows what. It seems all of them are the progeny of the Banu Hashim of Qureish.
Haris: You make some good points. I was interested in knowing what thier agenda would be after getting thier rights and citizenship. According to the article, that certainly doesen't seem far off since most bengalis already have the National ID card and Pakistani Passport. Even NARA which was saying that a citizenship certificate is necessary seems to have quietened down. Moreover mainstream parties like all the PML factions, the Jamat e Islami and even PPP went around the bengali neighbourhoods courting their votes by essentially promising them citizenship and equal rights.
Another interesting thing I noticed here was that the Bengalis deny the presence of any Burmese Muslims in Karachi saying they are all in fact Bengali speakers. Is that true or is that just to circumvent the dilution of thier political base?
Shawaiz: since you are speaking for the nationalist cause here what issues make you hostile to these immigrants gettign nationality and what should be done with them?
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*Originally posted by mufakkar: *
Shawaiz: since you are speaking for the nationalist cause here what issues make you hostile to these immigrants gettign nationality and what should be done with them?
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I'm not at all hostile towards these immigrants, if they all legal let them live in peace, and if they are illegal, throw them out, that simple is my stance on this issue.
Sindh has already suffered immensely during partition, its age old culture has been virtually wiped out, another mass immigration will bring dire consequences.
I've some Sindhi friends and they are very hostile towards Pakistan, mainly because Sindh's urban ethnic problems.
Would immigrants be more acceptable if they were told to become more Pakistani (sindhi, baloch, pashtoon, punjabi etc.) once they came over? I am not sure but I think certain European countries (France comes to mind) demand that immigrants adopt their way of life.
^What you didn't take into consideration is that most of them are living illegally in Pakistan. According to NARA, some 2 million illegal immigrants are residing in Pakistan and most of them are Bengladeshis. With its huge population and high birth rate, Pakistan cannot afford this kind off illegal immigration. For me the whole Pakistan has become a refugee camp.
A question(I can't read urdu, so if it is in the article I would'nt know), how do these Bengalis get to Pakistan?
Bengladesh has no connection to Pakistan at all, I don't understand how you could move between the two.
Also, if they want jobs and better living conditions, then why don't they go to Indian Bengal where people speak their language.
But I think since they are our muslims bros, we should'nt talk about kicking them out or whatever.
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*Originally posted by shawaiz: *
Sindh has already suffered immensely during partition, its age old culture has been virtually wiped out, another mass immigration will bring dire consequences.
I've some Sindhi friends and they are very hostile towards Pakistan, mainly because Sindh's urban ethnic problems.
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Nonsense. Sindh is suffering because of the polices and practices of the most powerful province in Pakistan. Other provinces have the same problem and I’m sure you’ll try to blame this on mohajirs as well.
Shawaiz there is no difference between what you say and what say Haider or Le Pen state. Immigrants are not evil. They add to the way of life. Remember if you aint in Pakistan you are an immigrant. If you are an immigrant these nationalists want to throw you out. If you want to through the bengalis out accept being thrown out yourself.