What is to be done with 'stranded Pakistanis'?

Poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz had accompanied Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on his first and last visit to independent Bangladesh in 1974. Upon his return, Faiz wrote the poem, 'Dhaka se waapsi par' ('On returning from Dhaka'). Two lines of the poem read:

'After how many meetings will we again be friends?

When will we see the unsullied green of spring?'

Poets are said to have the power to see far ahead. The uncertainty which runs through the lines of Faiz's poem remains the reality of today. It is hard to discern any 'green of spring' arriving as a harbinger to resolve the old problems that stand between Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has not been possible to resolve the 50-year-old bilateral problems as hoped for and so these problems pop up time and again.

In the past, the issue of 'stranded Pakistanis' in Bangladesh has been prioritised on the list of unresolved issues between the two countries. The issue has recently arisen again in discussions. This calls for a look into the predicament of these 'stranded Pakistanis'. It also needs to be seen whether, over these 50 years, there have been any changes in the sociopolitical and legal circumstances of this small community. This certainly calls for immediate attention.

Generally speaking, 'stranded Pakistanis' refer to those Urdu-speaking people who stayed in camps here after the independence of Bangladesh, wanting to go to Pakistan. Facing uncertain circumstances during and after the 1971 war, these people took shelter in the temporary camps made for refugees. The camps are still there. So are the people. Officially there are 116 such camps across the country. In Dhaka there are 45. The number of these camps, following fires and evictions, are gradually decreasing. There are about 250,000 Urdu-speaking people living in these camps. There are Urdu speaking people living in this country outside of these camps as well. They are around 300,000 to 400,000 in total, outnumbering the Urdu speakers living in the camps. Those living outside of the camps, in general, haven't had to face the history-related complications of citizenship.

The matter of 'stranded Pakistanis' was taken up immediately after the 1971 liberation war because these people wanted to go to Pakistan. The discussions were not just between Bangladesh and Pakistan, India joined in too. India joined the discussions as being an allied force during the liberation war. In the span between 1972 and 1974, three memorandums/agreements were signed between Bangladesh, Pakistan and India -- bilateral and trilateral.

The agenda of discussion between the three countries at the time was the return of surrendering Pakistani troops to their country and trial of war crimes. Two more issues were being discussed between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the time. One was the return of 'stranded citizens' to the country of their choice, and the division of assets and liabilities between the two countries. Bangladesh welcomed back the Bengali speaking people who had been stranded in West Pakistan and wanted to return home.

In the meantime, a decision was taken in the 9 April Delhi agreement regarding 'stranded Pakistanis' and Pakistan agreed to take four types of people:

One, those who were citizens of the western wing of undivided Pakistan,

Two, those who were employees of the central government of undivided Pakistan and their families,

Three, citizens who has been separated from their families, and

Four, 25,000 people who were in particularly harrowing circumstances.

In the backdrop of these decisions and discussions, till 1982 a total of 150,000 or so Urdu-speaking persons from the camps in Bangladesh went to Pakistan. More camp dwellers wanted to go later too, but Pakistan's lack of interest in this regard halted the process. Also, at the same time, many among the younger generation in the camps, were unwilling to go to Pakistan. In 2003 and 2008, certain important legal progress was made in this regard. The High Court in Bangladesh separately settled two appeals filed by a number of the camp residents, identifying them as 'Urdu speaking Bangladeshis' and stating that there was no obstacle to their voting or being given National ID cards. It was even said that those who in the camps had applied to go to Pakistan, could not be deprived of their voting rights or rights to NID cards.

On the one hand the possibility of going to Pakistan dimmed, and on the other, the High Court's verdict strengthened the camp people's decision to create a future for themselves in Bangladesh. At present, it is hardly ever heard that any Urdu-speaking people of the camps are applying to go to Pakistan or are launching any movement to that end. And as there has been no appeal to the contrary, the verdict too remains intact and in effect.

Generally speaking at present, most of those who are referred to in the media as 'stranded Pakistanis', have been born and brought up in Bangladesh. They have not seen 1971. They have no experience of the war. They want to be citizens of this country. The High Court's orders have given them the fundamental rights in this regard. Most of the adults in the camp have NID cards. And every year in the NID renewal programme in the camps, those who reach 18 years of age are getting citizenship anew. Many who have NID cards are getting passports too with the camp address. They show their electricity bills as proof of residence when applying for passports. Other than six camps in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, most of the camps dwellers pay their own electricity and water bills. Official 'relief' to the camps has been halted in 2014, the camp people say. So once their citizenship was ensured, they lost their facilities as refugees. The children of these Urdu-speakers with citizenship now are studying at various educational institutions of the country.

One of the most magnanimous gestures of post-independence Bangladesh is opening the doors to fundamental rights to the next generation of the old Urdu-speaking community in the country. This is certain a matter in which the judiciary and the higher administration can take pride.

All said and done, the administration in recent times has once again begun counting the 'stranded Pakistanis' as non-citizens. This has given scope to misunderstanding.

On 16 December last year, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics issued letters to all the deputy commissioners around the country, asking for the number of 'stranded Pakistanis'. This naturally gave rise to the question, how can these people living in the camps, who have received NID cards and passports, still be considered 'stranded Pakistanis'? In order words, the chapter that had been closed, has been brought forward once again in this manner. How can someone with a Bangladesh NID be considered Pakistani? How can they be told to go to Pakistan or how can their future generations not be counted as citizens of this country? These questions now all over again loom large among the poor and the ultra-poor people of the camps.

One of the significant difference in these 'stranded Pakistani' camps is that Urdu speakers are no longer the only residents here. There are many Bengalis living as 'tenants' in the camps. This is not quite perceivable from the outside. As a large number of the Urdu-speaking camp people have NID cards and so are Bangladesh citizens, the main portion of the camps residents are made up of Bangladeshis with citizenship and allegiance. There is no similarity between the refugee problem of 1972 and the present camp lives of the so-called stranded people.

The Urdu-speaking and Bangla-speaking residents of the camps are now all of the same ilk, facing the same daily struggle in the inhuman conditions of the camps. Other than the filth and the cramped space, camp life is increasingly risky too. A slightest earthquake can spell a catastrophic human disaster. There is strong risk of fire too. Over three persons per square foot live in the 135,000-square foot 'Geneva Camp' in Mohammedpur, Dhaka. It is rare that so many people live in such cramped quarters in any refugee camp of the world. Such camps can be called sprawling slums.

Alongside the economic and legal tensions, these 'stranded Pakistanis' also face a cultural crisis. Bangladesh's schools and colleges do not offer any Urdu studies. So most of the young boys and girls of the Urdu-speaking camps people cannot read or write their mother tongue. So while the media refers to these young people as 'Urdu-speaking', they are actually reading and writing in Bangla and English.

While these Urdu speakers, by virtue of their education, are actually becoming Bangla speakers, their addresses and identifies are a deterrent to their getting jobs. The fact that they have long ago got their NID and legal recognition in this country, is still not properly perceived in the country.

An investigation into the Urdu-speaking families of those living as 'stranded Pakistanis' in the camps, reveal that their main requirement is a means of living. They want to be rehabilitated to better circumstances. All of the people in this community are skilled in various handcrafts. They are not used to agricultural work. That is why they must be rehabilitated in areas near the cities. Various administrative initiatives indicate that the Bangladesh government is aware of this. In November 2014 and February 2015, while visiting the ministry for disaster management and relief and the housing and public works ministry respectively, prime minister Sheikh Hasina spoke of rehabilitating the Urdu speaking people of the camps in place around Dhaka. This now can be a priority programme for the 'stranded Pakistanis'. The prime minister's directive at the time had generated hope in the camps. Being rehabilitated to a new place could be and answer to the uncertainty of their livelihoods. That is the way ahead to do something for these 'stranded Pakistanis'.

Over the past five decades the Bangladesh government has carried out a lot of responsibilities concerning these camps, has spent a lot of funds. The judiciary has given these Urdu-speaking people of the camps citizenship rights.

Despite all this, the Pakistan government cannot evade its historic responsibilities towards these people. It was the 1971 war of the Pakistan forces that led to this pitiful predicament of these camp people. And so the government of that country certainly must do something for them. There is scope to call the government of that country to talks, to discuss what role they can play in the rehabilitation of these people. Only a satisfactory solution of these old humanitarian issues can pave the way forward for the two countries towards future ties.

* Altaf Parvez is a researcher of South Asian history.

* This column appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir