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Persecution of Biharis in Bangladesh

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Persecution of Biharis in Bangladesh refers to the pogroms carried out with the states tacit approval against the Stranded Pakistanis and their persecution, starting after the Fall of Dhaka. 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.” 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 West Pakistani supporters from Bangaldesh.

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 Stranded Pakistanis, for their support to the Pakistan Armed Forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War. Biharis have to face severe hardships, most of which immigrated from the Indian State ofBihar to East Pakistan after the partition. The Biharis or Non-Bengalis largely constituted the East Pakistani paramilitary groups like Al-Shams, Razakars, and Al-Badr, becoming a major cause for the discontent among the Bengalis.

The Bengalis were fully backed by the Indian army in this massacre. The main reasons for the hatred was opposition to the adoption of Urdu as national language and the economic downtroddenness by the West Pakistani dictatorial leadership. The secular feelings along with feelings of hatred towards West Pakistan, or the modern state of Pakistan gave fuel to the fire.

After the Fall of Dhaka

When Dhaka fell into the hands of the Mitro Bahini 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.

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.

There have been various allegations on Mukti Bahini regarding killings of non-Bengali people, mainly West Pakistanis and Bihari people in the Bangladesh Liberation War.

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 Mukti Bahini's reign of terror in East Pakistan in 1971."

Aziz cites tragic accounts of 170 eye-witnesses, picked from amongst nearly 5000 families repatriated to Pakistan from Bangladesh between the autumn of 1973 and the spring of 1974. They hailed from 55 towns of East Pakistan.

Sarmila Bose in her book Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War says that allegations of genocide and rape by the Pakistan Army were exaggerated by Bangladesh and India for political purposes. She presents interviews of many witnesses in favor of her opinion. She also accuses Bangladeshi liberation accounts of ignoring atrocities against Urdu-speaking people in East Pakistan.

Casualties and Events

Various estimates put the figures of Bihari and Urdu-Speaking Killings. Pakistani authorities estimate a minimum of 100,000 to 1 million non-Bengali killings. Wheras the Bengali sources claim the deaths of non-Bengalis from "a few thousand" to 40,000 killed. According to The Minorities at Risk Project the number of killed Bihari is about 1000. According to R.J. Rummel, the number of killed Biharis is estimated to be between 50,000 to 500,000 killed, more likely 150,000.

Bengali mobs were often armed, sometimes with machetes and bamboo staffs. Biharis were massacred in areas like Jessore, Panchabibi and Khulna. On March 1972 in Khulna, over 300 to 1000 Biharis were killed, including women and children. The bodies were humiliated and were thrown in the nearby river.


Effects and Aftermath

As a result of this discrimination and prejudice and pogroms, The majority of the Biharis in Bengal have consistently expressed a wish to be repatriated to Pakistan. 83,000 Biharis — former civil servants, military and those with family in Pakistan , were evacuated to Pakistan initially. By 1974, 108,000 had been transferred to Pakistan, mainly by air, and by 1981, about 163,000. As a result, between 250,000 and 300,000 were left in camps in Bangladesh.

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References

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