Today is December 16. It has been 42 years since the notion of creating and keep it united as a country based on a common religion came to a terrible and bloody end on December 16, 1971. Perhaps first time in the world’s history majority population of a country ceded from the minority. Today Pakistani newspapers and TV channels will be blaming all the world, save themselves, for what led to the creation of Bangladesh out of a country, Pakistan, which itself was created out of British India on August 14, 1947, dividing the subcontinent on religious grounds.
Hundreds of thousands of (some claims up to millions) people were killed, injured, uprooted, unaccounted number of women and children were raped, all in a country which proudly finds its roots in religion. On December 16, 1971, Bengali population of Pakistan found its destiny in the form of an independent and sovereign country. Pakistani soldiers who fought in the then East Pakistan also returned to the homeland after few years. However, the dark night which started in 1971 for few hundred thousand Urdu speaking Bihari Muslims has not come to an end till today. These people refused to take up the Bangladeshi citizenship when offered in late 1970s, and continued to call themselves as Pakistanis. 42 years have passed and they are still living in refugee camps, once run by the UN but now converted into overcrowded slums. As the international funds dried away over a period of time, these poor souls were left on their own. With no right to education and work, poor health and sanitation conditions (one latrine shared by 90 families), these half million forgotten stateless people still look forward to those who took the mantle of religious divide in 1947 to come to their rescue.
During the last three decades, Pakistan hosted millions of Afghan refugees, allowed them to do business and work, buy properties, acquire passports and national IDs — all in the name of Muslim ummah and humanity. One wonders, where all this ummah and humanity get vanished when it comes to those half million Urdu speaking Bihari Pakistanis? For the last few days, religious parties in Pakistan are mourning the hanging of Abdul Kadir Molla in Bangladesh, but forget to demand repatriation of Pakistanis to Pakistan — contradiction continues as it doesn’t garner votes.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
