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{{Short description|Ethnic persecution of the Bihari minority in Bangladesh}}
'''Anti-Bihari pogroms in Bangladesh''' refer to the ]s carried out with the states tacit approval<ref name=Metcalf>{{cite book|last=Metcalf|first=Barbara D.|title=Islam in South Asia in Practice|year=2009|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0691044200|page=31|editor=Barbara D. Metcalf|date=8|month=September}}</ref> against the minority Bihari population or the mass killing of Biharis, after the ]. The Biharis had become symbols of West Pakistan’s dominance and were attacked in retaliation to the army’s suppression. It was not just Urdu speakers who were in danger. Aquila Ismail, a famous novelist said, “Bihari was a loose term used for people who came from Uttar Pradesh, Poona, Maharshtra, for Punjabis, Pathans. Every non-Bengali was a Bihari.”<ref>{{cite web|last=Zehra |first=Batool |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/340653/the-other-side-of-history/ |title=The other side of history – The Express Tribune |publisher=Tribune.com.pk |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref> The estimated figures for the number of people killed vary and are as low as 1,000 and as high as 1,000,000. The pogroms were part of the elimination of the remnants of ]i supporters from ].
{{Discrimination sidebar}}
{{Violence against Muhajirs in Pakistan}}
{{Use Bangladeshi English|date=January 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
The ] minority in ] were subject to persecution during and after the ] (a part of the ] and the ])<ref name="Khan 2010 p101" /> (called the '''Civil War in Pakistan'''),<ref name="Social 2005 p93" /> experiencing widespread discrimination.<ref name="BBC 19 May 2008" /> They largely maintained a pro-Pakistani stance, supported the ] and opposed the independence of Bangladesh and the ] of the ]. Biharis faced reprisals from ] and Bengali militias<ref>{{cite book |last=van Schendel |first=Willem |title=A History of Bangladesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Y2bBQAAQBAJ |year=2009 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-316-26497-3 |page=173 |access-date=28 June 2018 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214523/https://books.google.com/books?id=7Y2bBQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Khan 2010 p101" /> resulting in an estimated death toll ranging from 1,000<ref name="MAR-1" /> to 150,000.<ref name="Fink2010">{{cite book |last=Fink |first=George |title=Stress of War, Conflict and Disaster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOq4XV94wLsC&pg=PA292 |year=2010 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-12-381382-4 |pages=292}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict: Po - Z, index. 3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TG2kN033mDkC&pg=PA64 |year=1999 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-12-227010-9 |pages=64}}</ref>


Within the context of the conflict in Bangladesh, the term "Bihari" implies the migrants predominantly from the Indian state of Bihar and West Bengal, who headed for then East Pakistan, after the partition of India in 1947. Later on, all Urdu speaking people, even the Punjabis, Pathans, Sindhi and Baloch from West Pakistan, who were posted to East Pakistan or settled in the Eastern Wing were labeled as ''Biharis'' by Bengalis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Redclift |first1=Victoria |title=The demobilization of diaspora: history, memory and ‘latent identity’ |journal=Global Networks |date=2017 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=500–517 |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/glob.12150}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hali |first=S. M. |date=30 March 2022 |title=The plight of Biharis |url=https://www.brecorder.com/news/40163908 |access-date=19 July 2024 |website=Brecorder |language=en}}</ref>
==Causes==
The Biharis had become symbols of West Pakistan’s dominance. Bengalis were outraged on the support of Biharis, often referred to as ''Pro-Pakistanis'' and ], for their support to the Pakistan Armed Forces in the]. Biharis have to face severe hardships, most of which immigrated from the Indian State of] to ] after the ].


Bihari representatives claim that 500,000 Biharis were killed, while the Pakistani government's "white paper" and the US Consul estimated at least 64,000-66,000 deaths.<ref name="Gerlach2010p148">{{cite book |last=Gerlach |first=Christian |author-link=Christian Gerlach |year=2010 |title=Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48N-XbOltMEC&pg=PA148 |publisher=] |pages=148 |isbn=978-1-139-49351-2 |access-date=24 September 2016 |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214806/https://books.google.com/books?id=48N-XbOltMEC&pg=PA148 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aYBrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA334|title=Death by Government|last=Rummel|first=R.J.|publisher=]|year=1997|isbn=9781560009276|pages=334|access-date=23 January 2022|archive-date=7 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207214903/https://books.google.com/books?id=aYBrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA334|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Bengalis were fully backed by the ] in this massacre.<ref></ref> The main reasons for the hatred was opposition to the adoption of ] as ] and the ] downtroddenness by the West Pakistani ]ial leadership. The secular feelings along with feelings of hatred towards ], or the modern state of ] gave fuel to the fire.


The ] ruled Biharis eligible for Bangladesh citizenship in 1972, and about 500,000 chose repatriation to Pakistan.<ref name="Khan 2010 p101" /><ref name=Ghazali>{{cite news |url=http://www.milligazette.com/news/5953-four-decades-of-sufferings-of-the-stranded-pakistanis-in-bangladesh |title=Four decades of sufferings of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh |last=Ghazali |first=Abdus Sattar |date=24 January 2013 |work=] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722105209/http://www.milligazette.com/news/5953-four-decades-of-sufferings-of-the-stranded-pakistanis-in-bangladesh |archive-date=22 July 2015}}</ref> Some repatriation was implemented by the ] over a number of years,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/feature/2012/bangladesh-feature-2012-04-19.htm |title=Bangladesh: ICRC honoured for helping victims of 1971 conflict |date=19 April 2012 |access-date=26 August 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402221511/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/feature/2012/bangladesh-feature-2012-04-19.htm |archive-date=2 April 2013}}</ref> but in 1978, the Pakistani government stripped Pakistanis remaining in Bangladesh of Pakistani citizenship.<ref name=Ghazali/> Researchers (such as ])<ref>Sumit Sen (1999-2000). Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: The Bihari Refugees of South Asia (Parts 1 & 2), ] Vol.11 No.4 and Vol.12 No.1</ref> maintain that the Pakistani government's denationalization of the Biharis and reluctance to rehabilitate them in Pakistan are sufficient evidence of persecution to warrant refugee status. The Biharis have also faced institutionalized discrimination linked to their citizenship status,<ref name="Bradley 2013 p201" /> and many live in squalor in refugee camps.<ref>Bremen Donovan (2014) {{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2014/aug/11/stranded-pakistanis-camps-bangladesh-bihari-in-pictures |title='Stranded Pakistanis' living in camps in Bangladesh – in pictures |work=] |date=11 August 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603173848/http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2014/aug/11/stranded-pakistanis-camps-bangladesh-bihari-in-pictures |archive-date=3 June 2016}}</ref>
==Fall of Dhaka==
When Dhaka fell into the hands of the ] on December 16, 1971, Biharis assumed that they’d be presented a choice much like they’d been given in 1947: to live in Bangladesh or to go to what was left of Pakistan. But that illusion was quickly dispelled. Non-Bengalis were attacked, branded collaborators, and shot, bludgeoned and bayoneted to death. The Indian troops had been protecting non-Bengalis during the conflict, but as they withdrew, the pogrom began in earnest.<ref>{{cite web|last=Zehra |first=Batool |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/340653/the-other-side-of-history/ |title=The other side of history – The Express Tribune |publisher=Tribune.com.pk |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>


== History ==
While the atrocities of the Pakistan Army against the Bengali population during the war are well-documented, little is known about the plight of the Biharis who were left stranded when East Pakistan seceded in 1972, and what they suffered during and after the conflict. According to some estimates, 750,000 Biharis were left in Bangladesh in 1972, and not only did they face persecution at the hands of Bengalis, they were also disowned by Pakistan and became stateless overnight — in December 1971, while Pakistani army personnel and civilians were evacuated from Bangladesh, the Biharis were left behind. In the mayhem that lasted from March 25 to April 10, when the Pakistan Army took control, a large number of Urdu speakers were also massacred by the Mukti Bahini.<ref>{{cite web|last=Zehra |first=Batool |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/340653/the-other-side-of-history/ |title=The other side of history – The Express Tribune |publisher=Tribune.com.pk |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
===Partition violence===
] (now a state in eastern India) was plagued by communal violence between Muslims and Hindus due to partition,<ref name="Southwick 2012 p117" /> along with the other former territories of ].<ref name="Singh 1996 p256" /> More than 30,000 Biharis were killed in October and November 1946, and it is estimated that up to one million migrated to ].<ref name="Biju 2010 p246" /> In the aftermath of the 1946 riot in Bihar, Jinnah said 'I never dreamt that in my lifetime I shall see Pakistan in being, but the tragedy of Bihar has brought it about'.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}} The Muslim League organized the rehabilitation of the Bihari refugees in ]. The arrival of Bihari refugees in camps in Sindh and ] in 1946 paralleled the later movement of refugees in 1947.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ghosh |first=Papiya |year=2001 |title=The Changing Discourse of the Muhajirs |journal=India International Centre Quarterly |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=57–68 |jstor=23005560}}</ref>


] (then a student leader) toured affected villages in Bihar with his relief team and was moved to ask Bihari refugees to move to East Bengal in 1947.<ref name="Southwick 2012 p117" />
There have been various allegations on Mukti Bahini regarding killings of non-Bengali people, mainly ] and ] in the ].<ref name="Congress1971">{{cite book|author=United States. Congress|title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XqFgXk3vxFQC|accessdate=30 March 2013|year=1971|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref><ref name="Gerlach2010"/> The conflict left many ] and ] dead.<ref name="Bihari Refugees">{{cite journal |quotes=|last=Sen |first=Sumit |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1999 |month= |title=Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: the Bihari Refugees of South Asia, Part 1 |journal=International Journal of Refugee Law |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=625–645 |id= |url=http://ijrl.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/11/4/625.pdf |accessdate=October 20, 2006|doi=10.1093/ijrl/11.4.625|format=PDF}}</ref>


=== Migration from Bihar ===
Various estimates put the figures of Bihari and Urdu-Speaking Killings. Pakistani authorities estimate a minimum of 100,000<ref name="Gerlach2010">{{cite book|author=Christian Gerlach|title=Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=48N-XbOltMEC&pg=PA148|accessdate=30 March 2013|date=14 October 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-49351-2|pages=148–}}</ref> to 1 million non-Bengali killings.<ref></ref> Wheras the Bengali sources claim the deaths of non-Bengalis from "a few thousand"<ref name="Gerlach2010"/> to 40,000<ref name="Gerlach2010"/> killed. According to ''The Minorities at Risk Project'' the number of killed Bihari is about 1000.<ref name=MAR-1>{{cite web|title=Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh|url=http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/chronology.asp?groupId=77103|work=The Minorities at Risk (MAR) Project|accessdate=27 March 2013}}</ref> According to ], the number of killed Biharis is estimated to be between 50,000 to 500,000 killed<ref name="Democide"></ref>
The 1947 ] displaced between 12 and 18 million people.<ref name="Kibria2011" /> Millions of Muslims migrated from ] to ] while millions of Hindus and Sikhs migrated from Pakistan to India.<ref name="KukrejaSingh2005" />


== Background ==
One reason cited for communal violence between Biharis and Bengalis was Bengali opposition to ] as a national language, which resulted in the ] and an economic downturn. The relatively secular attitude of East Pakistan increased tensions between the two communities and the two provinces of the country.<ref name=UStudies>{{cite book |chapter=Pakistan Period (1947–71) |chapter-url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/14.htm |year=1989 |editor1-last=Heitzman |editor1-first=James |editor2-last=Worden |editor2-first=Robert |url=http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/ |title=Bangladesh: A Country Study |publisher=] |isbn=0-16-017720-0 |access-date=16 June 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622211513/http://countrystudies.us/bangladesh/21.htm |archive-date=22 June 2011}}</ref> In the ], Biharis predominantly supported the mostly West Pakistani ] over the ] (overwhelmingly supported by Bengalis) and played an active anti-secessionist role in the liberation war.<ref name="Biju 2010 p246" />


Biharis supported the ] during the Bangladesh War of Independence, comprising majorities in armed paramilitary groups such as ], ] and ] (held responsible for the ] campaign against Bengali nationalists, civilians, religious and ethnic minorities). News outlets such as the BBC have published death-toll estimates by independent researchers varying from 200,000 to 500,000. Scholars such as ] and Matthew White estimate the total Bengali civilian death toll at 1.5 million.<ref name="Rummel R. J." /><ref name="White, Matthew J. p190" /> The casualty figure estimated by Pakistan is 25,000, as reported by the ].
==Blood and Tears==
Qutubuddin Aziz dedicates his book "Blood and Tears" to "Those Hundreds of Thousands of Innocent Men, Women and Children who were killed or maimed in the Awami League’s rebellion and genocide and the ]'s reign of terror in East Pakistan in 1971."


Biharis became the target of retaliation. According to historian ], many scholars have used the wartime actions of Biharis to understate, marginalize and even justify atrocities against non-Bengalis or to suppress the memory of atrocities committed against them.<ref name="Gerlach2010p148" /> The Minorities at Risk project puts the number of Biharis killed during the war at 1,000;<ref name="MAR-1" /> however, Rummel cites a "likely" figure of 150,000.<ref name="Rummel R. J." />
The 170 eye-witnesses, whose tragic accounts of their splintered and trauma-stricken lives are contained in this book, were picked from amongst nearly 5000 families repatriated to Pakistan from Bangladesh between the autumn of 1973 and the spring of 1974.<ref>http://www.scribd.com/doc/28983123/Blood-and-Tears-by-Qutubuddin-Aziz</ref>


== Events ==
Although they hail from 55 towns of East Pakistan, their narratives and the published dispatches of foreign newsmen quoted in this book, cover 110 places where the slaughter of the innocents took place. The majority of eyewitnesses consist of the parents who saw their children slam, the wives who were forced by the rebels to witness the murder of their husbands, the girls who were ravished and the rare escapees from the rebel-operated human slaughterhouses. While the focus in “Blood and Tears” is on the rebels’ atrocities in the infernal March-April, 1971, period, the brutality of the Indian-trained Bengali guerrilla force, the Mukti Bahini, after India’s armed grab of East Pakistan on December 17th 1971, is also recounted, though in less detail. The book highlights the courage and heroism of many Bengalis who saved their non-Bengali friends from the fire and fury of the bloodthirsty insurgents.<ref>http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/3366347/247194982/name/Blood+and+Tears--qutubuddin+aziz.pdf</ref>


=== East Pakistan War, 1971 ===
==More Sources==
In early March 1971, 300 Biharis were slaughtered in rioting by Bengali mobs in ]{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}. The massacre was used by the Pakistan Army as a justification to launch ] against the Bengali nationalist movement.<ref name="D'Costa" /> Biharis were massacred in ], Panchabibi{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} and ]<ref name="Gerlach2010p149" /> (where in March 1972, 300 to 1,000 Biharis were killed and their bodies were thrown into a nearby river).<ref name="The Age 1972" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=15 December 2017 |title=Fall of Dhaka: How Mukti Bahini 'cleansed' Santahar town of non-Bengalis |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1585095/mukti-bahini-cleansed-santahar-non-bengalis |access-date=26 April 2023 |work=] |language=en |archive-date=3 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203225827/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1585095/mukti-bahini-cleansed-santahar-non-bengalis |url-status=live }}</ref>
*<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opinion-maker.org/2013/04/bangladesh-rapes-and-atrocities-myth-and-realities/|title=Bangladesh: Rapes and Atrocities Myth And Realities |publisher=: |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statelesspeopleinbangladesh.net/blood_tears.php |title=Stateless in Bangladesh and Pakistan|publisher=Statelesspeopleinbangladesh.net |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rupeenews.com/2010/11/indian-mukti-bahani-terrorism-massacres-of-biharis-at-jessore-panchabibi|title=Indian, Mukti Bahani terrorism: Massacres of Biharis at Jessore, Panchabibi |publisher=Rupee News |date=2011-04-16|accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rupeenews.com/2010/11/mukti-bahanis-massacre-of-biharis-blamed-on-pakistan-army |title=Mukti Bahani's massacre of Biharis blamed on Pakistan Army |publisher=Rupee News |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/minorities/South-Asia/Biharis-of-Bangladesh.html |title=Biharis of Bangladesh - World Directory of Minorities |publisher=Faqs.org |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*<ref>{{cite web|author=Mete Açıkgöz |url=http://www.crescent-online.net/2009/09/the-heartbreaking-story-of-the-biharis-stranded-in-bangladesh-tahir-mahmoud-1927-articles.html |title=The heartbreaking story of the 'Biharis' stranded in Bangladesh, Tahir Mahmoud, Crescent Magazine |publisher=Crescent-online.net |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*<ref>http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19720315&id=RJwQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sZADAAAAIBAJ&pg=2332,2938998</ref>
*<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?page_id=46 |title=Bangladesh Genocide Archive &#124; Refugees|publisher=Genocidebangladesh.org |date= |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*Hamid Mir'a article in the Bangladeshi Daily Star.<ref>{{cite web|author=Hamid Mir|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=131584 |title=Apology Day for Pakistanis|publisher=Archive.thedailystar.net |date=2010-03-26 |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*<ref>http://www.bangla2000.com/bangladesh/independence-war/report-hamoodur-rahman/report-pdf/chapter2.pdf</ref>
*<ref>http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/3366347/247194982/name/Blood%2Band%2BTears--qutubuddin%2Baziz.pdf</ref>
*<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/BloodAndTears |title=BLOOD AND TEARS : Qutubuddin Aziz : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive |publisher=Archive.org |date=2001-03-10 |accessdate=2013-05-25}}</ref>
*]


The magnitude of anti-Bihari attacks by Bengalis throughout the war are contested. Bengali sources admit the death of a few thousand to 30,000 or 40,000 non-Bengalis.<ref name="Gerlach2010p148" /> According to a white paper released by the Pakistani government, the Awami League killed 64,000 Biharis and West Pakistanis.<ref name="Jones" /> R. J. Rummel, a historian with the University of Hawaii,<ref name="Rummel R. J." /> gives a range of 50,000 to 500,000 Biharis killed and concludes at a prudent figure of 150,000 murdered by Bengalis overall.<ref name=":1" /> International estimates vary from 20,000 to 200,000. In June 1971, Bihari representatives put forward a figure of 500,000 Biharis killed by Bengalis.<ref name="Gerlach2010p148" />
==References==

{{Reflist}}
], a researcher on ], said attacks on ] can be termed “genocide."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=23 November 2011 |title=Bangladesh war trial sparks rival calls for justice |url=https://www.dawn.com/2011/11/23/bangladesh-war-trial-sparks-rival-calls-for-justice/ |access-date=26 April 2023 |work=] |agency=] |language=en}}</ref> ] in her book 2011 '']'' argues that ] are in a state of denial about the massacre.<ref name=":0" /> Bose's claims are not accepted by Bangladeshi historians.<ref name="DR-001">{{cite news |date=16 June 2011 |title=Controversial book accuses Bengalis of 1971 war crimes |publisher=] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13417170 |url-status=live |access-date=9 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708083223/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13417170 |archive-date=8 July 2013}}</ref><ref name="DR-002">{{cite news |title=Bose is more Pakistani than Jinnah the Quaid |newspaper=] |url=http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/bose-is-more-pakistani-than-jinnah-the-quaid |url-status=live |access-date=9 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212073930/http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/bose-is-more-pakistani-than-jinnah-the-quaid |archive-date=12 December 2013}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=November 2024}}<ref name="DR-003">{{cite news |date=3 October 2011 |title=Flying Blind: Waiting for a Real Reckoning on 1971 |newspaper=] |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=205005 |url-status=live |access-date=9 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213210628/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=205005 |archive-date=13 December 2013}}</ref>

Ezaz Ahmed Chowdhury, a Bihari community leader said:
{{Blockquote|text=Everyone talks about the killings of Bengalis (by the Pakistani army) in 1971. But none dares to mention the pogroms that were carried out against Biharis, We estimate that hundreds of thousands of Biharis were killed. In (northwestern) Santahar town alone, several thousand were killed in a matter of days<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/675367/bangladesh-war-trial-sparks-rival-calls-for-justice|title=Bangladesh war trial sparks rival calls for justice|date=November 23, 2011|language=en|access-date=November 23, 2024|work=]}}</ref>}}

The ] has downplayed such massacres, calling them "isolated incidents."<ref name=":2" />

== Aftermath ==
=== Refugee crisis ===
The Bangladesh government announced Presidential Order 149 in 1972, offering citizenship to Biharis. According to government sources 600,000 Biharis accepted the offer, and 539,669 opted to return to Pakistan.<ref name="Biju 2010 p247" /> But according to historian Partha Ghosh approximately 470,000 Biharis out of a total of 700,000 Biharis opted to be repatriated to Pakistan through the International Red Cross.<ref name="Ghosh2016">{{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Partha S. |title=Migrants, Refugees and the Stateless in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X242DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |year=2016 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-93-5150-855-7 |pages=87–}}</ref> Several groups in Pakistan have urged their government to accept the Biharis.<ref name="Mirza 2005" /><ref name="Dawn 2004" />

], a Socialist leader, played an active role in solving the refugee crisis. He organized a delegation, headed by British Labour Party politician ] and ], which encouraged many refugees to return to Pakistan.<ref name="McRobie 2003" /> In a 1974 agreement, Pakistan accepted 170,000 Bihari refugees; however, the repatriation process has since stalled.<ref name="safhr" />

Organisations such as ] have urged both governments to "grant citizenship to the hundreds of thousands of people who remain without effective nationality".<ref name="RefInt" /> During his 2002 trip to Bangladesh, Pakistan president ] said he sympathised with the plight of the Biharis but could not allow them to emigrate to Pakistan.<ref name="BBC 31 July 2002" /> As of 2006, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (]) had not addressed the plight of the Biharis.<ref name="RefInt" /> On 19 May 2008, the Dhaka High Court approved citizenship and voting rights for about 150,000 refugees who were minors at the time of Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. Those born in the country since the war also gained citizenship and the right to vote.<ref name="Reuters 18 May 2008" /><ref name="Parveen 2008" />

=== Immigration ===
{{See also|Muhajir (Urdu-speaking people)}}
Due to their initial pro-Pakistan stance, the Biharis were consistent in their wish to be repatriated to Pakistan. Initially, 83,000 Biharis (58,000 former civil servants and military personnel), members of divided families and 25,000 hardship cases were evacuated to Pakistan.<ref name="Ghosh2016"/> By 1974, 108,000 had been transferred to Pakistan (mainly by air); by 1981, about 163,000. Both countries have signed agreements on the repatriation of stateless people, but only a few hundred have managed to go to Pakistan.<ref name="rediff"/> Under the supervision of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees over 119,000 Biharis were airlifted to Pakistan.<ref name="Rizvi1993">{{cite book |last=Rizvi |first=H. |title=Pakistan and the Geostrategic Environment: A Study of Foreign Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5SiHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |year=1993 |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-230-37984-8 |pages=34–}}</ref> By 1982, Pakistan had received 169,000 Biharis. Some Biharis also entered Pakistan through illegal means.<ref name="Rizvi1993"/> According to the UNHCR report 170,000 Biharis were repatriated after the second Delhi Agreement. In 1977, 4,790 families were repatriated; 2,800 in 1979; 7,000 in 1981; 6,000 in 1984; and 50 families in 1993.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Farzana |first1=Kazi Fahmida |title=An Artificial Minority: The Stateless Biharis in Bangladesh |journal=Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs |date=June 2009 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=223–235 |doi=10.1080/13602000902943682|s2cid=143009440 }}</ref> A total of approximately 178,069 Biharis were repatriated to Pakistan between 1973 and 1993.<ref name="HofmannCaruso2011">{{cite book |last1=Hofmann |first1=Rainer |last2=Caruso |first2=Ugo |title=Minority Rights in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yKCKe7J9Uq4C&pg=PA101 |year=2011 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3-631-60916-3 |pages=101–}}</ref><ref name="KhanRahman2013">{{cite book |last1=Khan |first1=Borhan Uddin |last2=Rahman |first2=Muhammad Mahbubur |title=Protection of Minorities: Regimes, Norms and Issues in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GrwwBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |year=2013 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-4571-7 |pages=83–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sen |first=Sumit |editor-last=Crock |editor-first=Mary |chapter=Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: The Bihari Refugees of South Asia - Part 2' |title=Refugees and Rights |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7AokDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT367 |year=2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=314 |isbn=978-1-351-90562-6 }}</ref>

In 1988, the ] (OIC) raised about $500&nbsp;million for the repatriation and rehabilitation of Biharis to Pakistan.<ref name="Mahmud 1995" /> A special committee, the Rabita (Coordination) Trust Board, was formed by Pakistan President ]. It received $14&nbsp;million by 1992, and was requesting additional donations from ] and other ] for the rehabilitation of Biharis.<ref name="Shah1997" />

Land allocated to Biharis in Pakistan in one colony in ] is now a slum.<ref name="TOI" /> The Biharis were targeted by the ethnic ] during the 1980s ] riots.<ref>{{Cite news |title=MQM facing extinction |url=http://nation.com.pk/columns/30-Jun-2015/mqm-facing-extinction |newspaper=The Nation |language=en-US |access-date=30 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413161825/http://nation.com.pk/columns/30-Jun-2015/mqm-facing-extinction |archive-date=13 April 2016}}</ref> In the ] of Pakistan, ethnic ] forcefully occupied shelters allocated to the Biharis.<ref name="TOI" /> {{Disputed inline|for=forceful occupation not mentioned in source.|reason=the article does not state that shelters were "forcefully occupied".|date=August 2015}} These incidents {{which|date=August 2015}} have prompted some Biharis to return to Bangladesh.<ref name="rediff" />{{Unreliable source?|reason=the article referred has no author or publishing date.|date=August 2015}}

== {{anchor|Present condition}}Present conditions ==
{{main|Stranded Pakistanis}}
Although many Biharis have assimilated into the Bengali population of Bangladesh, some opt to migrate to Pakistan and are relocated to refugee camps across Bangladesh.<ref name="minority rights" /> According to one estimate, at least 250,000 Biharis are still in Bangladesh urban refugee camps.<ref name="Faq" /> The camps have become slums, the largest of which (known as "Geneva Camp", with over 25,000 people) is crowded and undeveloped; families up to 10 people typically live in a single room, one latrine is shared by 90 families and no more than five percent of the population has a formal education. Due to the lack of educational opportunity and poor living conditions, young men in the slums have set up an ''Urdu Bhashi Jubo Chhatro Shongothon'' (Urdu-Speaking Young Students Association) to increase educational opportunities in their community.<ref name="Rafferty 2010" /> Health and sanitation problems persist due to poor drainage and sewage systems, and the economic condition of Bihari refugees has been described in news reports and academic journals as extremely poor.<ref name="Rafferty 2010" />

===2014 Kalshi clashes===
In 2014, members of the ruling Awami League, aided by ] clashed with the ], in a bid to grab land in ].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Azad |first1=Adib |last2=Shaon |first2=Ashif Islam |date=18 June 2014 |title=Mirpur clashes kill 10 Biharis |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/crime/2014/jun/15/mirpur-clashes-kill-10-biharis |newspaper=] |access-date=29 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121083425/http://www.dhakatribune.com/crime/2014/jun/15/mirpur-clashes-kill-10-biharis |archive-date=21 January 2016}}</ref> During these clashes, nine people including eight members of a family were burnt alive by Awami League and their local Bengali supporters.<ref>{{cite news |title=9 burnt dead, another 'gunned down' |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/9-burnt-dead-another-gunned-down-28447 |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=14 June 2015 |access-date=29 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119032607/http://www.thedailystar.net/9-burnt-dead-another-gunned-down-28447 |archive-date=19 January 2016}}</ref>

The ] blamed the attacks being directed by ], the ] lawmaker of Mirpur.<ref>{{cite news |title=Biharis point fingers at Elias |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/biharis-point-fingers-at-elias-28718 |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=16 June 2014 |access-date=29 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129052625/http://www.thedailystar.net/biharis-point-fingers-at-elias-28718 |archive-date=29 January 2016}}</ref> Elias Mollah denied involvement and blamed a "vested conspiracy" against him.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chowdhury |first1=Kamran Reza |date=23 June 2014 |title=Bihari Camp Arson Attack: Elias Mollah denies role |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/crime/2014/jun/23/elias-mollah-denies-role |newspaper=] |access-date=29 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131154507/http://www.dhakatribune.com/crime/2014/jun/23/elias-mollah-denies-role |archive-date=31 January 2016}}</ref>

== {{anchor|Citizenship and efforts for reconciliation}}Citizenship and reconciliation efforts ==
In May 2003, a high court ruling in Bangladesh allowed ten Bihari refugees to obtain ] and voting rights.<ref name="Rahman 6 May 2003" /> The ruling exposed a generation gap among Biharis; younger Biharis tended to be "elated", but many older people felt "despair at the enthusiasm" of the younger generation and said their true home was in Pakistan.<ref name="Lawson 28 May 2003" /> Many Biharis now seek greater civil rights and citizenship in Bangladesh.<ref name="grasp" />

On 19 May 2008, the Dhaka High Court approved citizenship and voting rights for about 150,000 refugees who were minors at the time of Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. Those born in the country since the war also gained citizenship and the right to vote.<ref name="Reuters 18 May 2008" /><ref name="Parveen 2008" /> Several political parties campaigned in the camps for the Bihari vote during the ], and the group was considered important to parties and candidates.<ref name="Manik 2008" /> Although the court ruling explicitly said that the Biharis are eligible to register to vote in the December 2008 elections, the Election Commission closed its rolls in August 2008 without enrolling them.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304193532/http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/bangladesh-fails-to-register-its-urdu-speaking-citizens-as-voters_10084746.html |date=4 March 2016 }}. ''Thaindian''. 16 August 2008.</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|India|Bangladesh|Pakistan}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

== References ==
{{reflist
| colwidth = 30em
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<ref name="Bradley 2013 p201">
{{cite book |last=Bradley |first=Megan |year=2013 |title=Refugee Repatriation: Justice, Responsibility and Redress |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3vmxFU2RIAC |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-107-02631-5 |page=201 |access-date=31 July 2013}}
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{{cite book |last=Prasad |first=Chunnu |year=2010 |chapter=Refugees and Human Rights: Comparative Studies between Chakmas in India and Biharis in Bangladesh |editor=M. R. Biju |title=Developmental Issues in Contemporary India |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pGFw4Xyl4d8C&pg=PA247 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Concept Publishing |page=247 |isbn=978-81-8069-714-2}}
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<ref name="Gerlach2010p149">
{{cite book |last=Gerlach |first=Christian |author-link=Christian Gerlach |year=2010 |title=Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=48N-XbOltMEC&pg=PA149 |publisher=] |page=149 |isbn=978-1-139-49351-2 |quote=while 57 were killed in Khulna on March 5.}}
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<ref name="D'Costa">
{{cite book |last=D'Costa |first=Bina |year=2010 |title=Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia |publisher=] |isbn=978-0415565660 |page=103}}
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<ref name="Jones">
{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Adam |year=2010 |title=Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction |url=https://archive.org/details/genocidecomprehe00jone |url-access=limited |publisher=] |isbn=978-0415486194 |page=}}
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<ref name="The Age 1972">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19720315&id=RJwQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2332,2938998 |title=Massacre of Biharis in Bangladesh |work=] |date=15 March 1972 |access-date=4 June 2013 |archive-date=5 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705191849/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19720315&id=RJwQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2332,2938998 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Mirza 2005">
{{cite journal |last=Mirza |first=Abdul Maqsood |date=28 December 2005 |url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/278024 |title=PRC Wants Urgent Steps for Biharis' Repatriation |journal=Arab News |access-date=26 July 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223452/http://www.arabnews.com/node/278024 |archive-date=3 March 2016}}
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<ref name="Dawn 2004">
{{cite news |title=MQM demands issuance of CNICs to Biharis |url=http://archives.dawn.com/2004/02/08/nat6.htm |newspaper=Dawn |date=8 February 2004 |access-date=6 August 2013}}
</ref>

<ref name="McRobie 2003">
{{cite news |last=McRobie |first=George |date=30 June 2003 |title=Surur Hoda |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/jun/30/guardianobituaries.india |newspaper=The Guardian |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827035708/http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/jun/30/guardianobituaries.india |archive-date=27 August 2013}}
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<ref name="safhr">
{{cite web |url=http://www.safhr.org/refugee_watch18_4.htm |title=South Asia Forum for Human Rights |publisher=SAFHR |date=18 April 2013 |access-date=6 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206070814/http://www.safhr.org/refugee_watch18_4.htm |archive-date=6 February 2012 |url-status=dead}}
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<ref name="RefInt">
{{cite web |url=http://www.refugeesinternational.org/policy/in-depth-report/citizens-nowhere-stateless-biharis-bangladesh |title=Citizens of Nowhere: The Stateless Biharis of Bangladesh |publisher=Refugees International |date=15 February 2006 |access-date=6 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025135012/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/policy/in-depth-report/citizens-nowhere-stateless-biharis-bangladesh |archive-date=25 October 2013 |url-status=dead}}
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<ref name="BBC 31 July 2002">
{{cite news |title=Musharraf wraps up Bangladesh visit |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2163374.stm |publisher=BBC |date=31 July 2002 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040504181328/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2163374.stm |archive-date=4 May 2004}}
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<ref name="Mahmud 1995">
{{cite news |last1=Mahmud |first1=Had |last2=Mir |first2=Amir |last3=Tohid |first3=Owais |date=8 November 1995 |title=Pakistan's Orphans |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?200137 |newspaper=Outlook |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614231251/http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?200137 |archive-date=14 June 2013 |access-date=25 June 2013}}
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<ref name="Shah1997">
{{cite book |last=Shah |first=Mehtab Ali |year=1997 |title=The Foreign Policy of Pakistan: Ethnic Impacts on Diplomacy 1971–1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7czT4fipTyoC |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-86064-169-5 |page=73 |access-date=18 July 2013}}
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<ref name="TOI">
{{cite news |title=Will Nitish's visit boost Biharis in Pakistan? |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Will-Nitishs-visit-boost-Biharis-in-Pakistan/articleshow/17093190.cms |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616013440/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-05/india/34926082_1_biharis-bihar-chief-minister-nitish-kumar |url-status=live |archive-date=16 June 2013 |newspaper=] |access-date=5 June 2013}}
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<ref name="rediff">
{{cite news |title=Bangla Biharis weary of wait to migrate to Pakistan |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/jan/28bangla.htm |work=] |access-date=5 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072132/http://www.rediff.com/news/jan/28bangla.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016}}
</ref>

<ref name="minority rights">
{{cite web |url=http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=5637 |title=Biharis |publisher=Minority Rights Group International |access-date=27 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511154837/http://minorityrights.org/?lid=5637 |archive-date=11 May 2018}}
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<ref name="Faq">
{{cite web |url=http://www.faqs.org/minorities/South-Asia/Biharis-of-Bangladesh.html |title=Biharis of Bangladesh, World Directory of Minorities |publisher=Faqs.org |access-date=25 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605094250/http://www.faqs.org/minorities/South-Asia/Biharis-of-Bangladesh.html |archive-date=5 June 2013}}
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<ref name="Rafferty 2010">
{{cite news |last1=Rafferty |first1=Mark |last2=Gilmer |first2=Anna |date=17 July 2010 |title=Bangladesh's forgotten students: The Biharis struggle |url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/study-abroad/100714/bangladesh-ethnic-persecution-bihari-bengali |newspaper=Global Post |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110413072655/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/study-abroad/100714/bangladesh-ethnic-persecution-bihari-bengali |archive-date=13 April 2011}}
</ref>

<ref name="Rahman 6 May 2003">
{{cite news |last=Rahman |first=Waliur |date=6 May 2003 |title=Vote for 'stranded Pakistanis' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3003949.stm |publisher=BBC |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070913161232/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3003949.stm |archive-date=13 September 2007}}
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<ref name="Lawson 28 May 2003">
{{cite news |last=Lawson |first=Alastair |date=28 May 2003 |title=Mixed feelings over Bihari ruling |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2941974.stm |publisher=BBC |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040308021427/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2941974.stm |archive-date=8 March 2004}}
</ref>

<ref name="grasp">
{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321134045/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/8245 |date=21 March 2007 }}, Refugees International
</ref>

<ref name="Reuters 18 May 2008">
{{cite news |title=Court rules that young Biharis are Bangladesh citizens |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-33636220080518 |work=Reuters |date=18 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625085949/http://in.reuters.com/article/2008/05/18/idINIndia-33636220080518 |archive-date=25 June 2013}}
</ref>

<ref name="Parveen 2008">
{{cite news |last=Parveen |first=Shahnaz |date=26 May 2006 |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=38148 |title=Citizenship debate comes to end but doubts and worries remain |newspaper=The Daily Star |access-date=19 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072811/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=38148 |archive-date=4 March 2016}}
</ref>

<ref name="Manik 2008">
{{cite news |last=Manik |first=Julfikar Ali |date=26 December 2008 |title=Parties go innovative to grab Bihari votes |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=68785 |newspaper=The Daily Star |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224220624/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=68785 |archive-date=24 December 2013}}
</ref>

<ref name="KukrejaSingh2005">
{{cite book |last1=Waseem |first1=Mohammad |editor1-last=Kukreja |editor1-first=Veena |editor2-last=Singh |editor2-first=M P |year=2005 |chapter=Causes of Democratic Downslide in Pakistan |title=Pakistan: Democracy, Development and Security Issues |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iHZrCE-hvGAC&pg=PA40 |publisher=Sage Publications |page=40 |isbn=978-0-7619-3416-5}}
</ref>

<ref name="Kibria2011">
{{cite book |last=Kibria |first=Nazli |year=2011 |title=Muslims in Motion: Islam and National Identity in the Bangladeshi Diaspora |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Di6Sm2efKocC&pg=PA11 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=11 |isbn=978-0-8135-5055-8}}
</ref>

}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?page_id=46 |title=Bangladesh Genocide Archive |date=14 March 2012}}
*
* {{cite web |url=http://www.crescent-online.net/2009/09/the-heartbreaking-story-of-the-biharis-stranded-in-bangladesh-tahir-mahmoud-1927-articles.html |title=The heartbreaking story of the 'Biharis' stranded in Bangladesh, Tahir Mahmoud, Crescent Magazine}}

{{1971 Bangladeshi genocide}}
{{Bangladesh–Pakistan relations}}

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Latest revision as of 10:40, 13 January 2025

Ethnic persecution of the Bihari minority in Bangladesh
Part of a series on
Discrimination
Forms
Attributes
Social
Religious
Ethnic/national
Manifestations
Policies
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Related topics
Part of a series on
Violence against
Muhajirs
Pakistan
Bangladesh



The Bihari minority in Bangladesh were subject to persecution during and after the Bangladesh War of Independence (a part of the Indo-Pakistani conflicts and the Cold War) (called the Civil War in Pakistan), experiencing widespread discrimination. They largely maintained a pro-Pakistani stance, supported the Pakistan Armed Forces and opposed the independence of Bangladesh and the Bengali language movement of the Bengali Muslims. Biharis faced reprisals from Mukti Bahini and Bengali militias resulting in an estimated death toll ranging from 1,000 to 150,000.

Within the context of the conflict in Bangladesh, the term "Bihari" implies the migrants predominantly from the Indian state of Bihar and West Bengal, who headed for then East Pakistan, after the partition of India in 1947. Later on, all Urdu speaking people, even the Punjabis, Pathans, Sindhi and Baloch from West Pakistan, who were posted to East Pakistan or settled in the Eastern Wing were labeled as Biharis by Bengalis.

Bihari representatives claim that 500,000 Biharis were killed, while the Pakistani government's "white paper" and the US Consul estimated at least 64,000-66,000 deaths.

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh ruled Biharis eligible for Bangladesh citizenship in 1972, and about 500,000 chose repatriation to Pakistan. Some repatriation was implemented by the Red Cross over a number of years, but in 1978, the Pakistani government stripped Pakistanis remaining in Bangladesh of Pakistani citizenship. Researchers (such as Sumit Sen) maintain that the Pakistani government's denationalization of the Biharis and reluctance to rehabilitate them in Pakistan are sufficient evidence of persecution to warrant refugee status. The Biharis have also faced institutionalized discrimination linked to their citizenship status, and many live in squalor in refugee camps.

History

Partition violence

Bihar (now a state in eastern India) was plagued by communal violence between Muslims and Hindus due to partition, along with the other former territories of British India. More than 30,000 Biharis were killed in October and November 1946, and it is estimated that up to one million migrated to East Pakistan. In the aftermath of the 1946 riot in Bihar, Jinnah said 'I never dreamt that in my lifetime I shall see Pakistan in being, but the tragedy of Bihar has brought it about'. The Muslim League organized the rehabilitation of the Bihari refugees in Sindh. The arrival of Bihari refugees in camps in Sindh and Bengal in 1946 paralleled the later movement of refugees in 1947.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (then a student leader) toured affected villages in Bihar with his relief team and was moved to ask Bihari refugees to move to East Bengal in 1947.

Migration from Bihar

The 1947 partition of India displaced between 12 and 18 million people. Millions of Muslims migrated from India to Pakistan while millions of Hindus and Sikhs migrated from Pakistan to India.

Background

One reason cited for communal violence between Biharis and Bengalis was Bengali opposition to Urdu as a national language, which resulted in the Bengali Language Movement and an economic downturn. The relatively secular attitude of East Pakistan increased tensions between the two communities and the two provinces of the country. In the 1970 general elections, Biharis predominantly supported the mostly West Pakistani Muslim League over the Awami League (overwhelmingly supported by Bengalis) and played an active anti-secessionist role in the liberation war.

Biharis supported the Pakistan Armed Forces during the Bangladesh War of Independence, comprising majorities in armed paramilitary groups such as Al-Shams, Razakars and Al-Badr (held responsible for the genocidal campaign against Bengali nationalists, civilians, religious and ethnic minorities). News outlets such as the BBC have published death-toll estimates by independent researchers varying from 200,000 to 500,000. Scholars such as R. J. Rummel and Matthew White estimate the total Bengali civilian death toll at 1.5 million. The casualty figure estimated by Pakistan is 25,000, as reported by the Hamoodur Rahman Commission.

Biharis became the target of retaliation. According to historian Christian Gerlach, many scholars have used the wartime actions of Biharis to understate, marginalize and even justify atrocities against non-Bengalis or to suppress the memory of atrocities committed against them. The Minorities at Risk project puts the number of Biharis killed during the war at 1,000; however, Rummel cites a "likely" figure of 150,000.

Events

East Pakistan War, 1971

In early March 1971, 300 Biharis were slaughtered in rioting by Bengali mobs in Chittagong. The massacre was used by the Pakistan Army as a justification to launch Operation Searchlight against the Bengali nationalist movement. Biharis were massacred in Jessore, Panchabibi and Khulna (where in March 1972, 300 to 1,000 Biharis were killed and their bodies were thrown into a nearby river).

The magnitude of anti-Bihari attacks by Bengalis throughout the war are contested. Bengali sources admit the death of a few thousand to 30,000 or 40,000 non-Bengalis. According to a white paper released by the Pakistani government, the Awami League killed 64,000 Biharis and West Pakistanis. R. J. Rummel, a historian with the University of Hawaii, gives a range of 50,000 to 500,000 Biharis killed and concludes at a prudent figure of 150,000 murdered by Bengalis overall. International estimates vary from 20,000 to 200,000. In June 1971, Bihari representatives put forward a figure of 500,000 Biharis killed by Bengalis.

Ishrat Ferdousi, a researcher on 1971 atrocities, said attacks on Biharis can be termed “genocide." Sarmila Bose in her book 2011 Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War argues that Bengalis are in a state of denial about the massacre. Bose's claims are not accepted by Bangladeshi historians.

Ezaz Ahmed Chowdhury, a Bihari community leader said:

Everyone talks about the killings of Bengalis (by the Pakistani army) in 1971. But none dares to mention the pogroms that were carried out against Biharis, We estimate that hundreds of thousands of Biharis were killed. In (northwestern) Santahar town alone, several thousand were killed in a matter of days

The Liberation War Museum of Bangladesh has downplayed such massacres, calling them "isolated incidents."

Aftermath

Refugee crisis

The Bangladesh government announced Presidential Order 149 in 1972, offering citizenship to Biharis. According to government sources 600,000 Biharis accepted the offer, and 539,669 opted to return to Pakistan. But according to historian Partha Ghosh approximately 470,000 Biharis out of a total of 700,000 Biharis opted to be repatriated to Pakistan through the International Red Cross. Several groups in Pakistan have urged their government to accept the Biharis.

Surur Hoda, a Socialist leader, played an active role in solving the refugee crisis. He organized a delegation, headed by British Labour Party politician David Ennals and Ben Whitaker, which encouraged many refugees to return to Pakistan. In a 1974 agreement, Pakistan accepted 170,000 Bihari refugees; however, the repatriation process has since stalled.

Organisations such as Refugees International have urged both governments to "grant citizenship to the hundreds of thousands of people who remain without effective nationality". During his 2002 trip to Bangladesh, Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf said he sympathised with the plight of the Biharis but could not allow them to emigrate to Pakistan. As of 2006, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had not addressed the plight of the Biharis. On 19 May 2008, the Dhaka High Court approved citizenship and voting rights for about 150,000 refugees who were minors at the time of Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. Those born in the country since the war also gained citizenship and the right to vote.

Immigration

See also: Muhajir (Urdu-speaking people)

Due to their initial pro-Pakistan stance, the Biharis were consistent in their wish to be repatriated to Pakistan. Initially, 83,000 Biharis (58,000 former civil servants and military personnel), members of divided families and 25,000 hardship cases were evacuated to Pakistan. By 1974, 108,000 had been transferred to Pakistan (mainly by air); by 1981, about 163,000. Both countries have signed agreements on the repatriation of stateless people, but only a few hundred have managed to go to Pakistan. Under the supervision of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees over 119,000 Biharis were airlifted to Pakistan. By 1982, Pakistan had received 169,000 Biharis. Some Biharis also entered Pakistan through illegal means. According to the UNHCR report 170,000 Biharis were repatriated after the second Delhi Agreement. In 1977, 4,790 families were repatriated; 2,800 in 1979; 7,000 in 1981; 6,000 in 1984; and 50 families in 1993. A total of approximately 178,069 Biharis were repatriated to Pakistan between 1973 and 1993.

In 1988, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) raised about $500 million for the repatriation and rehabilitation of Biharis to Pakistan. A special committee, the Rabita (Coordination) Trust Board, was formed by Pakistan President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. It received $14 million by 1992, and was requesting additional donations from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for the rehabilitation of Biharis.

Land allocated to Biharis in Pakistan in one colony in Mian Channu is now a slum. The Biharis were targeted by the ethnic Sindhi people during the 1980s Karachi riots. In the Punjab province of Pakistan, ethnic Punjabis forcefully occupied shelters allocated to the Biharis. These incidents have prompted some Biharis to return to Bangladesh.

Present conditions

Main article: Stranded Pakistanis

Although many Biharis have assimilated into the Bengali population of Bangladesh, some opt to migrate to Pakistan and are relocated to refugee camps across Bangladesh. According to one estimate, at least 250,000 Biharis are still in Bangladesh urban refugee camps. The camps have become slums, the largest of which (known as "Geneva Camp", with over 25,000 people) is crowded and undeveloped; families up to 10 people typically live in a single room, one latrine is shared by 90 families and no more than five percent of the population has a formal education. Due to the lack of educational opportunity and poor living conditions, young men in the slums have set up an Urdu Bhashi Jubo Chhatro Shongothon (Urdu-Speaking Young Students Association) to increase educational opportunities in their community. Health and sanitation problems persist due to poor drainage and sewage systems, and the economic condition of Bihari refugees has been described in news reports and academic journals as extremely poor.

2014 Kalshi clashes

In 2014, members of the ruling Awami League, aided by police clashed with the members of the Urdu speaking community, in a bid to grab land in Mirpur. During these clashes, nine people including eight members of a family were burnt alive by Awami League and their local Bengali supporters.

The Biharis blamed the attacks being directed by Elias Mollah, the ethnic Bengali lawmaker of Mirpur. Elias Mollah denied involvement and blamed a "vested conspiracy" against him.

Citizenship and reconciliation efforts

In May 2003, a high court ruling in Bangladesh allowed ten Bihari refugees to obtain citizenship and voting rights. The ruling exposed a generation gap among Biharis; younger Biharis tended to be "elated", but many older people felt "despair at the enthusiasm" of the younger generation and said their true home was in Pakistan. Many Biharis now seek greater civil rights and citizenship in Bangladesh.

On 19 May 2008, the Dhaka High Court approved citizenship and voting rights for about 150,000 refugees who were minors at the time of Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence. Those born in the country since the war also gained citizenship and the right to vote. Several political parties campaigned in the camps for the Bihari vote during the 2008 general election, and the group was considered important to parties and candidates. Although the court ruling explicitly said that the Biharis are eligible to register to vote in the December 2008 elections, the Election Commission closed its rolls in August 2008 without enrolling them.

See also

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Further reading

Bangladesh genocide
Perpetrators
Organizers
Executors
Organizations
Massacres
Barisal Division
Chittagong Division
Dhaka Division
Khulna Division
Rajshahi Division
Rangpur Division
Sylhet Division
Notable victims
Protests
Trials
Related events
Bangladesh Bangladesh–Pakistan relations Pakistan
Diplomatic posts
Bangladesh Liberation War
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