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NOT FOR PUBLICATIONWITHOJT WRITER’S CONSENT

INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAHaka, Bangladesh andIslamabad, PakistanJune 30, 1992

L IVING ON HOPE

by Carol Rose

Nasim Khan left his home in India in 1947 for what hethought would be a better life in the newly-created Muslim nationof Pakistan. He settled in the heart of East Pakistan" Dhaka.

When East Pakistan declared itself the independent nation ofBangladesh in 1971, Nasim Khan fought alongside the Pakistaniarmy to keep East and West united. But with India’s militaryassistance Bangladesh won the war and its independence.

Nasim Khan wasstranded. Long ago he hadabandoned his home in Indiaand was unwelcome toreturn. His adoptedcountry of East Pakistan nolonger existed. He wasbranded a traitor in thenewly-liberated nation ofBangladesh.

His only hope remainedin moving to what was leftof Pakistan. Twenty yearslater, he is still waitingto go there.

"We fought forPakistan, stood forPakistan, voted forPakistan," says Khan, nowthe Chief Patron of theStranded Pakistanis GeneralRepatriation Committee."Without us, there would beno Pakistan."

Unwanted guests" A Bihari girl embroiders asilk sari at a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Like 225,000 other so-called "Biharis," NasimKhan is a stateless person,unwelcome in both Pakistanand Bangladesh.

Carol Rose is an ICWA fellow writing on Northwest and South Asia.

Since 1925 the Institute of Current World Affairs (the Crane-Rogers Foundation) has provided long-term fellowships to

enable outstanding young adults to live outside the United States and write about international areas and issues. Endowedby the late Charles R. Crane, the Institute is also supported by contributions from like-minded individuals and foundations.

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Most Biharis live in the 66 squalid refugee camps scatteredacross Bangladesh. They do not qualify for "refugee status" orprotection from the United Nations because they have not crossedan international border. By a quirk of history, the bordercrossed them instead.

"We are unwanted persons in Pakistan, we are unwantedpersons in Bangladesh, and we are unwanted by the UnitedNations," he said. "We are the most unfortunate people on theglobe. "

Walking through the "Geneva" refugee camp just outside ofDhaka, you see his point. Dirt alleyways, some no more thanthree feet wide, connect long sheds divided into cell-like rooms

with low ceilings. Entirefamilies of eight or morepeople share a single roomno more than 10-by-15 feet,furnished with woven ropebeds and a few meagerpossessions cups andsaucers, clothing, aradio-- stacked in thecorners.

Unwashed toddlers runnaked through the alleys,some sleep on the groundamid the garbage and flies.Older children squat aroundquilting frames in poorly-lit rooms; their tiny handsare ideal for doing theintricate embroidery forwhich the Biharis havebecome famous. One sariembroidered with goldthread will bring the groupof children around 60 taka[$1.80.] It will sell inthe upper-class Bangladeshmarkets for 15 times thatamount.

Ths small room s typical of the spaceavailable for a Bihari family of fve nthe Geneva refugee camp n Dhaka.

Outside, a dozen womencrowd around a tube well,waiting their turn tocollect drinking water inlarge aluminum pots. Thereare only five welIs for3,500 families in thiscamp. Two taps haven’t

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worked for more than aweek. Latrines constructedabove the local spring havecontaminated the drinkingwater a feat of trueengineering stupidity. Thewomen won’t use the toiletsduring the daytime,however, because there areno doors and thus noprivacy.

Kushung Bibi, an oldwoman, explains how she hassurvived in theseconditions for more than 20years" "After the [1971]war, the railroad companysent us here in a truck andmarked us as non-Bengal is,"she said. "But I live on,knowing that I will go toPakistan and have a bighouse, a latrine, and myown water well."

A dreaming look comesinto her eyes" "It isgoing to be wonderfulthere. "

Above the narrowstreets people have hungdozens of green flagsadorned with white crescent Women crowd around one of the onlymoons The f i ag of funct{oning water taps in the Geneva camp.

Pakistan.

East is East, but the West Rules

Those who live in the camps say they are "strandedPakistanis." More commonly, they are called "Biharis" becausethey came to East Pakistan from the Indian state of Bihar afterthe partition of India in 1947. During Pakistan’s 1971 civilwar, East Pakistan broke from the West and became Bangladesh.The Biharis, who fought for a unified Pakistan, were left behind.

The factors, that led to the fragmentation of East and WestPakistan linguistic chauvinism and politics are the samereasons that both Pakistan and Bangladesh reject permanentsettlement of the Biharis today.

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[ Source" Bangladesh" Lonely Planet Guide,by 3on uay, 1991, p. 9]

At itscreation, East andWest Pakistan wereunified by Islam.But they wereseparated by 1,000miles of land and aneven wider ethnicand language divide.

The leaders ofthe Muslim Leaguewho fought for thepartition of Indiaand creation of anIslamic homelandwere immigrants fromthe Urdu-speakingregions of India.Most settled in WestPakistan, where theysoon controlled thegovernment of thefl edgl ing state.

One of the first acts of the new government was to make Urduthe official language of Pakistan, although it was spoken by fewof the nation’s inhabitants. Native people of West Pakistanspoke Sindhi, Pun jabi, Baluchi or Pushtun-- languages thatreflect the four major provinces of the West.

East Pakistan was populated by BengaIis who spoke thelanguage of Bangla. Although the East was economically poorerthan the West, it had a distinct numerical advantage" theBengalis made up 54 percent of the total population of Pakistan.This demographic disparity frightened Urdu-speaking leaders in

West Pakistan, who had nodesire to share power with theBengali politicians of theEast.

"They have all theinhibitions ofdowntrodden races...

Gen. Arub Khan onPakistan" s Bengalicitizens.

The language spilt wasintensified by the migrationto East Pakistan of 50,000"Biharis." Educated Mus I iresfrom India’s Bihar state, theywere encouraged by the

Government of Pakistan to run the railroad and join the civilservice in East Pakistan. The new immigrants generally were moreeducated and well-to-do than their poorer Bengali neighbors. Andlike most immigrants from India, the Biharis spoke Urdu.

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Language differences became the focal point for politicaldivisions between East and West Pakistan. Discrimination by WestPakistan particularly laws favoring Urdu-speakers ingovernment jobs angered Bengalis. In 1952, anti-Urdu languageriots broke out in East Pakistan and in the Sindh province ofWest Pakistan.

In 1958, the Pakistani army seized power in a military coup.Pakistan’s new leader, General Ayub Khan, showed disdain for theBengali citizenry of East Pakistan, saying" "They have all theinhibitions of downtrodden races and have not yet found itpossible to adjust psychologically to the requirements of thenew-born freedom. ’’I

The central government also exploited East Pakistaneconomically. Most striking was the use of jute export revenuesfrom the East for capital imports to West Pakistan. Throughoutthis time, Pakistan was rackedby civil disturbances. BetweenAyub’s coup and 1966, therewere an average of 5,000 riptsin East Pakistan each year.

In 1969, nationwide riotsforced Ayub to resign. Thegovernment scheduled freeelections for December 1970.

Bhutto threatened to"break the legs’" ofan 1artr menber whoattended the openingsession of theNational Assenbl y.

Bengali politicians, led by Mujibur Rahman, captured all buttwo of the 153 parliamentary seats in East Pakistan. ZulfikarAli Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won 81 out of the 148seats in the West. In short: the leaders of East Pakistan wonthe right to form a new government for Pakistan.

Frightened by the prospect of a Bengali-dominated governmentand wanting political power for himself Bhutto pressured

the army to postpone the convening of parliament. He alsothreatened to "break the legs" of party members who dared attendthe opening session of the National Assembly.

Three months later, Pakistan’s Army launched a crack-down inEast Pakistan. Soldiers of West Pakistan committed terribleatrocities against the Bengali population-- raping, torturingand looting the local people. The Indian army intervened onbehalf of East Pakistan in December 1971, routing the Pakistaniarmy and "liberating" the independent state of Bangladesh.

See Omar Noman, Pakistan" Political and Economic Historysince 1947, Kegan Paul International, London, 1990, p. 30.

Ibid.

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S1k dresses embroidered by Bhars bring n $1.80 n wages butsell for fifteen times that amount on the Bangladesh mrket.

Our Country was Threatened

Throughout the war, the Biharis remained loyal to thecentral government of Pakistan.

"We responded to a call from Pakistan that our country wasthreatened, so we went to the border and fought the Indian Army,says Khan. "We never fought against our Bengali brethren."

"When I dream ofPakistan I think of aplace where I will livewell ." A refugee inthe Milpur camp.

Many Bangladeshisrefute this statement,charging the Bihariscommitted the sameatrocities as the Pakistaniarmy. Whatever the truth,90,000 Pakistani soldierswere taken to Indianprisons at the end of thewar and eventually

repatriated to Pakistan. But an auxiliary force the Bihariswere left behind, deserted by Pakistan and detested by the

local Bangladesh population.

In the aftermath of the war, Biharis lost their jobs, theirhomes were confiscated and they were forced into camps to awaittheir fate. They were denied citizenship in Bangladesh, so theycould not vote or hold government jobs.

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Twenty years later, the memory of the 1971 war is as strongas ever and the Biharis remain social and economic outcasts inBangladesh. Most survive by selling embroidered saris, pullingrickshaws, or taking day labor as construction workers or in thebrick kilns.

"We have doctors and engineers who are sitting idle becausethey cannot get jobs in government hospitals or on governmentconstruction jobs, says Mumtaz Ahmed, a doctor in,the Milpurrefugee camp. "My father came to Dhaka in 1947 from Bihar towork as a hydraulic engineer for the government. We had a bighouse in Dhaka and one in the country. Now I live with him andmy wife and three children in a single room in this camp."

Electricity is provided to most of the camps ($3 a monthper household) by Rabita Trust, an Islamic welfare organizationfinanced by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Some people say that Rabitatrust gives a monthly ration of a few kilograms of wheat to eachadult. Others say they get no wheat.

"My problems?" asksAmena Begum as she squatsfloor of her room, a childin each arm. "I have fivechildren, so there are eightpeople sleeping in thisroom. The roof leaks duringthe monsoon so we all getfevers. The water iscontaminated so I have towalk a long way two or threetimes a day to bring water.And the latrines are brokenso that when it rains theyoverflow and mud and dirtruns into my house.

"My husband works in asilk workshop during the dayand as a watchman at night,"she continues. "But westill can’t afford meat morethan once a month.

"All of the women aresuffering in this camp, sheadds. "When the rainyseason comes we can’t evenlet our children playoutside because it is sodirty. They will getfevers. " Cramped streets of a Bhari refugee camp.

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Amena is hopeful thatshe and her family will beresettled in Pakistan thisyear: "When I dream ofPakistan I think of a placewhere I will live well. Iwill have access to water, agood house, and a latrine."

Showkat Ali, generalsecretary of the StrandedPakistani RepatriationCommittee, is more specific."By the end of July, i0,000of us will be resettled inPakistan," he says. "Withinone or two years, all of uswill be resettled. Thegovernment of Pakistan willgive each family a house,15,000 rupees ($750) for thefirst six months, twelve anda half acres of land, and ajob in the government. TheSaudis will pay foreverything."

Not much to sell" A refugee camp store.

Mumtaz Ahmed also ishopeful. "I don’t know whatjobs will be available forus in Pakistan, but we willdo whatever jobs we find.That is how we have survivedin sub-human conditions," hesays. "It is Allah that

keeps us going. We know that we will reach Pakistan one day. Itis that knowledge that pulls us to fight for life."

PROMISES, PROMISES

During a visit to Pakistan last year by Bihari leader NasimKhan, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif promised to resettlethe Biharis sometime in 1992. Whether he will be able to keepthat promise remains to be seen.

"I don’t think the government will be able to do anythingabout it," says Aziz A. Siddiqui, joint director of the HumanRights Commission of Pakistan. "It is a political issue, not ahumanitarian one."

Ironically, the same issues that divided East and West

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Pakistan language and ethnicity also have delayed theresettlement of the Biharis. The fear among many Pakistanis isthat the Urdu-speaking Biharis will join forces with other Urdu-speaking immigrants from India in Pakistan’s Sindh province.This would increase the political power of the Mohajir QuamiMovement (MQM) Immigrants National Movement and diminishthe political power of other ethnic groups in the region,specifically that of native Sindhis.

For nearly two years, Sindh province has been torn apart byethnic battles and terrorized by bandits who roam the countrysidelooting and kidnapping local citizens. Many people includingthe government say the outlaws are backed by the MQM.

"The Sindhis are genuinely worried; they have become aminority in their own province after the Mohajirs, the Punjabis,the Pushtuns and the Baluch," says Siddiqui. "The province isalready militarily and aggressively divided, unable even to holda consensus. There is no doubt that the Biharis would join theMQM. And while I wouldn’tsay that they are moreaggressive than other ethnicgroups, they are prone tointrigue and persecutioncomplexes."

The Human RightsCommission, Pakistan’s mostindependent human rightsorganization, is divided onthe issue of resettling theBiharis. "Some of ourmembers are from Sindh andare opposed to letting themcome," says Siddiqui. "It isthe hottest issue for us.Finally we decided simplynot to take a stand."

The government of NawazSharif says it will avoidfanning the ethnic fires ofSindh by resettling theBiharis in the Punjabprovince of northernPakistan. But opponents ofthe resettlement, includingBenazir Bhutto and herSindh-based PakistanPeople’s Party (PPP), arguethat the Biharis willimmigrate to the Sindh in Nasim Khan" "We must not be ignored."

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Waiting for water and a new home.

search of jobs and to join with family members already livingthere.

Bhutto may have other reasons for opposing the resettlementof the Biharis, according to A. Kaiser Morshed, chairman of theBangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.

"Bhutto and the PPP view the Biharis as a Fifth Column forPakistan inside Bangladesh," says Morshed. "Her father, ZulfikarAli Bhutto, never took them back [to Pakistan]. That was thebiggest crime that Bhutto committed. Now Benazir is carrying onthe mistakes of her father."

In contrast, the resettlement of the Biharis may suit thepolitical plans of Nawaz Sharif. "His government has apartnership with the MQM and he is not a Sindhi," says Siddiqui."And it suits the right-wing politicians, who have been the mostpersistent on this. But I don’t think it is a make-or-breakissue for the government, so they may not bother."

The government already has its hands full in Sindh. Lastmonth, Nawaz Sharif sent the Army to "clean up" the province.Thousands of people have been arrested in recent weeks and thetop leaders of the MQM have been charged with terrorism andmurder. Many have fled the country. It appears the governmenthas split the MQM into two factions, arresting old-time MQMleaders while helping a dissident MQM factions seize control ofthe organization.

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It is too early to predict how the army operation in Sindhwill affect the government’s promise to resettle the Biharis.Last April, Nawaz Sharif privately informed the-United NationsHigh Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) of his plans to announce aresettlement plan for the Biharis during a visit to Bangladesh inJuly. But that was before the recent crisis in Sindh forced himto cancel the trip, putting the Biharis on hold once again.

A DESPERATE ROAD

Nasim Khan first saw Pakistan last year, after waitingtwenty years for a visa. The invitation to meet with NawazSharif came only after Nasim Khan threaten to launch a "deathmarch" with all 225,000 Biharis across the Indian subcontinent.

"Nawaz asked me not to press him in 1991, but promised tobegin our repatriation by July of 1992," says Nasim Khan.

The announcement thatrepatriation would begin in1992 hasn’t improved the lotof the Biharis still inBangladesh, says Aine Fay,director of ConcernInternational, an Irishcharity based in Dhaka.

"The government [ofBangladesh] offered land to133 families to resettle,"

"The mothers wil 1throw their babies onthe street and refuseto give them milkuntil they die. Thiswi I I be our firstprotest.’" Bihari]eader Nasim Khan.

says Fay. "The people accepted the offer and we agreed to helpthem move. Both sides signed the agreement. But then Nasim Khanreturned from Pakistan with promises of repatriation and thepeople were afraid that if they accepted the land they wouldn’tget to go to Pakistan."

As in many refugee situations, the Biharis are lead by menwho benefit politically by keeping the refugees in sub-humanliving conditions. By martyring their own people, these leadersensure that the world does not forget their plight.

"The leaders of the Biharis keep the population agitated,"says Fay. "They are afraid that if they move to better conditionsthe government of Pakistan will ignore them."

She adds" "If they don’t go to Pakistan they will remain inhorrific conditions, living on nothing but hope."

Nasim Khan says he has a plan to ensure the world will notforget the Biharis" "If Nawaz Sharif doesn’t meet this [July]deadline, terrible things will happen. More terrible than people

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can imagine," he says. "As a first step, all the babies undertwo years of age will go with their mothers in front of the pressclub. The mothers will throw their babies on the street andrefuse to give them milk until they die. This will be our firstprotest.

"I believe in non-violence," he adds. "But we must not beignored. "

How ulch will they sacrifice?

(Photos by C. Rose and T. Harrington)

Received in Hanover, July 24, 1992