A three-decade long campaign by Bangladesh's poverty-stricken Bihari refugees to find a home in Pakistan is facing a fresh challenge -- many among the new generation don't want to go to an unfamiliar land. The Biharis found themselves stateless after East Pakistan seceded in 1971 and became independent Bangladesh after a nine-month war.
The Urdu-speaking Muslim Biharis had supported the Pakistani army and expected to be taken to Pakistan -- on the other side of the Indian subcontinent -- where Urdu is also spoken after Bangladesh became independent.
They're still waiting. Overpopulated and impoverished Pakistan has always been lukewarm about taking them. And now a younger generation of Biharis has other ideas.
"By virtue of birth, we are Bangladeshi citizens and we want to live in this country with equal status enjoyed by the Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis," Mustaque Ahmed, chief adviser for the Stranded Pakistanis Youth Repatriation Movement (SPYRM), told a recent news conference.
"For us, Bangladesh is our motherland... We are not willing to remain stateless and jobless any more."
The animosity between Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis and the Urdu-speaking Biharis has grown since 1971. The refugees moved into camps for their own safety and have been there ever since.
Life in the camps is far worse today than it was 30 years ago. The older generation's dream has faded in the squalor of poverty and hunger in shanties shared by families of up to eight. "We live a life even animals would hate," said one 70-year-old refugee.
The number of Biharis was about 225,000 in early 1970s but has swelled to more than 400,000 now, Bangladeshi officials say. The Biharis, however, put their number at 238,000, living in 66 camps across the country, including about 18,000 in Dhaka.
Bureau Report