"Stranded Pakistanis" hold hunger strike in Bangladesh

[dark_knite]

“Stranded Pakistanis” hold hunger strike in Bangladesh](http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_22-12-2004_pg7_45) :jhanda:

“Stranded Pakistanis” hold hunger strike in Bangladesh

DHAKA: Pakistanis who say they are stranded in Bangladesh called on South Asian nations on Tuesday to raise their plight at next month?s South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit so they can move to Pakistan, it was reported.

Nearly 300,000 people described locally as ?stranded Pakistanis? are estimated to be living in 66 refugee camps throughout Bangladesh.

Some 300 of them staged a six-hour fast in Dhaka to press their demands.

?We want to discuss the issue of repatriation with the Pakistani prime minister during the SAARC summit as we are being deprived of all kind of facilities here,? said Shoukat Ali, general secretary of the Stranded Pakistani General Repatriation Committee. Most of them came from the Indian state of Bihar after Partition and moved to what was then East Pakistan. **During the 1971 war, they supported Islamabad. **

After the war, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, the governments of both countries refused them permission to emigrate to Pakistan.

**The ?stranded Pakistanis? or ?Biharis,? who speak Urdu, complain of widespread discrimination in Bengali-speaking Bangladesh. **So far just 10 have been granted voting rights following a May 2003 court decision ruling that they are citizens of Bangladesh. They say it is hard for them to get jobs or get their children into schools. In 1993 just over 300 of them were able to go to Pakistan under a deal between the two countries. The process stalled afterwards.

While we howl about “Oppressed Kashmiris” , we refused to accept our own brethren who are living in terrible conditions in Bangladesh .
Pakistanis are truly great people :jhanda:

[Ma_Mooli]

you paki wannabe, this belongs in pak affairs mate:halo:

[dark_knite]

This little event took place in Bangladesh.
Do you still consider Bangladesh a part of Pakistan

[Ma_Mooli]

yes, but its about pakistanis, not bengalis.

and i dont know where bengladesh is, so i wouldn't know if its part of pak or not. :whistling

[lussi]

can someone tell me the background on this issue?

[Abdali]

After so many generations they are still Pakistanis!!

[phoenixdesi]

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Abdali: *
After so many generations they are still Pakistanis!!
[/QUOTE]

At least that is what they claim and the Bangladesh Govt has also refused to entitle them to the rights of BD citizens. so technically speaking they are still pakistanis.

And this particular aspect make this thread a unique thread. where should it end up? in WA form or Pakistan Affairs forum? Anyway, i have decided to keep this thread in WA for couple of days and then i will move it to Pak Forum. Thanks

[Sir_Galahad]

Take them back I say. While we are at it lets kick out the 1 million or more Bangladeshis in Pakistan. That should be a good trade.

[Minerva]

Bangladesh is a sovereign entity and so this thread is best suited for World Affairs/Regional Affairs.

This is a sad sad situation for the stranded people who claim that they are Pakistanis and reject Bangladeshi citizenship. But what I have heard from my colleagues who viisted Bangladesh recently that many of those people and particularly the new generation now don't want to settle down in Pakistan.

I think we didn't do justice with them. We can have Bosnians, we can let Afghanis travel all over our country and allow countless illegal migrants from Burma, Bangladesh and other places to work in Pakistan but we don't want people who have a right to demand citizenship of this country to return. This is truely sad...

[haroon2004]

We're idiots for not taking them, they are Pakistanis! There should be protest in Islamabad demanding we take these stranded pakistanis.