Bihari people

The Biharis have two of the four characteristics that encourage future protest: significant political restrictions; and Bangladesh's short history of democratic rule. It remains to be seen if mounting Bihari frustration coupled with continuing Pakistani intransigence will lead to a new violent phase in the Bihari struggle for repatriation; however it does not seem likely given the Biharis peaceful history. Bangladesh has generally been indifferent towards the plight of the Biharis, yet in recent years it has actively pressed Pakistan to repatriate the stranded Pakistanis. Unfortunately, is it clear that neither nation is willing to directly confront this issue. A minority of Biharis recently applied for Bangladeshi citizenship, and was successful, but many others still lobby to return to Pakistan. Some experts believe that there is a generational gap within the community, with younger Biharis seeking to settle in Bangladesh. The Biharis, who are also referred to as the Stranded Pakistanis, are urban dwellers who reside in some 66 camps across 13 regions throughout Bangladesh (GROUPCON06 = 0). They have lived in these camps since the early 1970s after the Pakistani civil war led to the creation of Bangladesh. The Biharis share a common religion with the majority Muslim population. However, they speak multiple languages including Urdu and Bengali and have different social customs than the dominant Bengalis (LANG06 = 1, CUSTOM06 = 1). The residence of the Biharis in present-day Bangladesh is the result of the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent and the creation of India and Pakistan. At that time, around one million Biharis migrated from India to East Pakistan. The Biharis were a skilled workforce who could speak Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, and thus they were able to fill key bureaucratic and private sector positions in East Pakistan. The Bengalis of East Pakistan, resentful of West Pakistani domination, turned their hostility toward the Bihari community. During the East Pakistani struggle for independence in 1970-71, the Biharis sided with the West Pakistanis and some Biharis joined armed movements to support them. Following India's military intervention which helped to ensure the creation of Bangladesh, clashes between the Biharis and Bangladeshis ensued. The Biharis were stripped of their properties, several thousand were jailed, and the majority was to reside in camps in urban centers. Some Biharis chose to move to Pakistan because their cultural ties were closer with the West Pakistanis. Pakistan initially agreed to the repatriation and some 163,000 Biharis were resettled in Pakistan by 1981. Developments within Pakistan have severely limited any further repatriation. The Biharis are primarily Urdu-speakers like the Mohajir community that resides in Pakistan's Sindh province. Violent disputes between the Mohajirs and the Sindhi-speakers in Pakistan led the Pakistani government to fear that any future repatriation would tip the ethnic balance in favor of the Urdu-speakers and spark further violent unrest in Sindh province. As a result, successive Pakistani governments have shown a great deal of reluctance to accept Biharis as citizens. The Stranded Pakistanis are at risk as they are subject to discrimination; they are disadvantaged due to past discrimination; and they support political organizations that advocate greater group rights. It has been almost three decades since the Biharis were first installed in the 66 camps throughout Bangladesh. They suffer from severe demographic stress. Conditions in the camps are dismal as public health facilities such as clean water and sanitation are very limited and restrictions on employment have led the Biharis to suffer from food shortages. Government policy ensures that they are not allowed to freely reside in other areas of the country. The Biharis are considered as stateless as most have neither Bangladeshi nor Pakistani citizenship. As a result, they are d