Daily Times, December 7, 2019

The case of stateless Biharis

By Abid Hussain
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“Minority” is a Latin word derived from “minor,” which means smaller. American
Heritage Dictionary defines that “minority is an ethnic, religious or another group
with a distinctive presence with litter power or representation relative to other
groups within a society.”
The term “minority” was given legal status by the sub-commission on “Prevention
of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities” in 1977 in Article 27 of
International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR) December 16, 1966.
In this article, it was declared that “Minorities are considered to be a group
numerically inferior to the rest of the population of the state, in a non-dominant
position, whose members being citizens of a state, possess ethnic beliefs or
linguistic characteristics differing from the rest of the population and show if only
implicitly, a sense of solidarity directly towards preserving their culture, traditions,
religions or language”.
Minorities are considered to be people with less power in any sovereign state.
They are regarded as migrated people from some other states in search of shelter
or to find peace. Migration is a movement of people from one region to another or
from one country to another country for different reasons. It happens in two
situations: involuntary and voluntary. If people are deprived of their state in
conflict situations based on human rights violations, persecution, military
aggression, repression, man-made disaster or through a natural disaster, such
movements are called involuntary migrations. When people cross the international
border in such situations to seek refuge, they are called “refugees.”
Voluntary migration takes place when people from one country move to another
for better livelihood. These are called labour or economic migrants. Hence, the
term “migration” covers all cases, whether people migrate voluntarily or by force.
There are some other kinds of migration taking place at the national level or
internally from one place to another. These are called Internal Displaced people or
IDPs. Examples of such IDPs in Pakistan are people who migrated from Swat to
other regions of Pakistan during the wars against terrorists in Swat and North
Waziristan region.
The legal bond of nationality is the right of every citizen in any state but
stateless people don’t have such facilities

According to the UNHCR report, there are 78.8 million people worldwide who do
not have the freedom to raise their voices in a state, where they live and are
forcibly displaced. Of them, 41.3 million are IDPs; 25.9 million refugees and 3.5
million peoples asylum-seekers across the world.
The legal bond of nationality is the right of every citizen in any state but stateless
people don’t have such facilities. Neither do they have the citizenship of their birth
country nor do other states allow them to claim it.
There are vast numbers of stateless people worldwide. The partition of the Indian
subcontinent left behind a big question for the people of South Asia, including
people of Kashmir, Rohingya and Biharis. They are the most affected people in the
region and are helpless to raise their voice against the injustice being treated.
The stateless people in Bangladesh are known as Biharis or Stranded Pakistanis.
From 1947 till 1971, they enjoyed their citizen status.
However, during the partition of the subcontinent, nearly one million non-Bengali
Muslims migrated from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to
the then East Pakistan, which is now known as Bangladesh. It is said that more
than one million Urdu-speaking Biharis reside in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The
tension between East and West Pakistan in 1971 declared them, pro-Pakistanis, in
terms of their religion and language. It was believed that this community could
survive better in East Pakistan because of their stance towards Pakistan Army.
The Bihari community became vulnerable as it faced the Bengali people, who used
to consider them as pro-nationalists of Pakistan after the surrender of Pakistan’s
army on December 16, 1971. Properties of many Biharis were seized by Bengali
and they were killed mercilessly in the hostile war. Since that time, many Biharis
are treated as orphans of the state and have been deprived of their basics rights.
Statelessness has had a terrible impact on the lives of individual Biharis in
Bangladesh, treated with the same yardstick. They cannot participate in society or
even enjoy basic human rights. They constantly face different problems and
humiliations. They do not have any legal protection from the state. They have been
deprived of political, economic and social rights. Neither can they buy properties
nor work in government services. They are not entitled to sign documents, cannot
get a proper education or health care and even get married without proper
authorisation. So much so that this community cannot even register the births of
their children.
The Supreme Court’s 2008 decision partially recognised their right as the citizens
of Bangladesh and listed them in electoral cards. A question, however, can still be
raised: whether these people have been allowed their moral rights? Humanitarian
organisations might guide us better in this regard.
The writer works at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI)