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Persecution of Biharis in Bangladesh refers to the persecution and discrimination carried out by the Bengali majority mainly against the minority Urdu-speaking Bihari community (also referred to as Stranded Pakistanis) in Bangladesh, starting after the Fall of Dhaka in 1971. Due to their opposition to the Bangladesh Liberation War and pro-Pakistan stance, Biharis were considered symbols of West Pakistan’s dominance and were attacked in retaliation for the atrocities committed by the Pakistani Army during the war. The attacks were not just limited to Urdu speakers but also to many other non-Bengalis living in Bangladesh. According to Aquila Ismail, "Bihari was a loose term used for people who came from Uttar Pradesh, Poona, Maharashtra, for Punjabis, Pathans. Every non-Bengali was a Bihari." The estimated number of people killed varies from 1,000 to 500,000. The persecutions were part of the systematic elimination of the remnants of West Pakistani supporters from Bangladesh. The anti-Bihari persecution has been a sore point in relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Causes

Biharis supported the Pakistan Armed Forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War. Due to their support of Pakistan, they were referred to as Pro-Pakistanis. Biharis had immigrated from the Indian State of Bihar to East Pakistan after the partition.

They 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 main reasons for the hatred was opposition to the adoption of Urdu as a national language and the economic downtroddenness by the West Pakistani dictatorial leadership. The comparatively secular attitude in East Pakistan increased the tensions among the two communities and between the two provinces of the country.

Fall of Dhaka

After the Fall of Dhaka on December 16, 1971, Biharis assumed they would be presented a choice much like they had been given in 1947, either "to live in Bangladesh" or "to go to what was left of Pakistan." However, Pro-Pakistanis were attacked, branded as collaborators of Pakistan, shot, and clouted to death. The Indian troops had been protecting non-Bengalis during the conflict, but with their withdrawal, the persecution began in earnest.

While the atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army against the Bengali population during the war were well-documented, little was known about the plight of the Biharis left stranded when East Pakistan seceded in 1972. 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.

There have also been various allegations against Mukti Bahini regarding killings of non-Bengali people, mainly West Pakistanis and Bihari people.

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

Sarmila Bose, in her book Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War, said that allegations of genocide and rape by the Pakistan Army were exaggerated by Bangladesh and India for political purposes. She presented interviews of many witnesses in support of her opinion. She also accused Bangladesh liberation accounts of ignoring atrocities against Urdu-speaking people in East Pakistan. However, Bose's book has been controversial and its accuracy has been questioned.

Casualties and events

Various estimates provide different figures of Bihari and Urdu-Speaking killings. Pakistani authorities estimate a minimum of 100,000 to 500,000 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, 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. In March 1972 in Khulna, at least 300 to 1000 Biharis were killed, including women and children. The bodies were thrown in the nearby river.

Aftermath

Immigration

As a result of this discrimination and prejudice, the Biharis have consistently repeated their wish to be repatriated to Pakistan. Initially 83,000 Biharis, which were former civil servants and military personnel were evacuated to Pakistan. By 1974, 108,000 had been transferred to Pakistan, mainly by air, and by 1981, about 163,000. The Government of Pakistan received some $14 million as of 1992 and had been asking for more from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for the repatriation and rehabilitation of the Biharis in Pakistan. However, the sufferings of the Biharis didn't end even after their immigration to Pakistan. The lands allocated to the Biharis in Pakistan (known as Bihari colony) are nothing more than slums. The Biharis were targeted by the ethnic Sindhi people during the deadly riots in the 1980s that took place in Karachi. In the Punjab province of Pakistan, the ethnic Punjabis forcefully occupied the shelters that were allocated to the Biharis. These demeaning situations have even prompted some Biharis to return back to Bangladesh.

Present condition

The two countries have signed several agreements on the repatriation of these stateless people, but only a few hundred have managed to go to Pakistan. According to one estimate, at least 250,000 are still left in urban camps in Bangladesh.

See also

• Anti-Bihari sentiment
• Human rights in Bangladesh

References

1. ^ Zehra, Batool. "The other side of history". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
2. ^ "Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh". The Minorities at Risk (MAR) Project. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
3. ^ Statistics Of Pakistan's Democide
4. Siddiqui 1990, p. 153.
5. A. R. Siddiqui, East Pakistan - the Endgame: An Onlooker's Journal 1969-1971, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 171.
6. James Heitzman and Robert Worden (eds), ed. (1989). "Pakistan Period (1947–71)". Bangladesh: A Country Study. Government Printing Office, Country Studies US. ISBN 0-16-017720-0. Retrieved 2007-06-16. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
7. ^ Christian Gerlach (14 October 2010). Extremely Violent Societies: Mass Violence in the Twentieth-Century World. Cambridge University Press. pp. 148–. ISBN 978-1-139-49351-2. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
8. ^ Qutubuddin Aziz (1974). Blood and tears. Publications Division, United Press of Pakistan. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
9. Woodrow Wilson Center Woodrow Wilson Center Book Launch event
10. Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971 by Sarmila Bose in the Economic and Political Weekly, October 8, 2005
11. Losing the Victims: Problems of Using Women as Weapons in Recounting the Bangladesh War by Sarmila Bose in the Economic and Political Weekly, September 22, 2007
12. "Controversial book accuses Bengalis of 1971 war crimes". BBC News. 05 June 2013. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. "Massacre of Biharis in Bangladesh". The Age. March 15, 1972. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
14. Shah, Mehtab Ali (1997). The Foreign Policy of Pakistan: Ethnic Impacts on Diplomacy 1971-1994. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 1860641695.
15. "Will Nitish's visit boost Biharis in Pakistan?". Times of India. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
16. ^ "Bangla Biharis weary of wait to migrate to Pakistan". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
17. "Biharis of Bangladesh, World Directory of Minorities". Faqs.org. Retrieved 2013-05-25.

Further reading

• "Bangladesh Genocide Archive".
• Report Hamoodur-Rahman Comission
• "Bangladesh: Rapes and Atrocities Myth And Realities".
• "Stateless in Bangladesh".
• "The heartbreaking story of the 'Biharis' stranded in Bangladesh, Tahir Mahmoud, Crescent Magazine".

• Human rights abuses in Bangladesh
• Ethnic cleansing
• Ethnic cleansing in Asia
• Persecution of Muslims
• Pogroms
• Bangladesh–Pakistan relations
• Anti-Pakistan sentiment
• Muhajir history
• Torture in Bangladesh