|
Date
|
Source
|
Event
|
|
December 12, 1970 |
|
Elections are held in Pakistan |
|
March 01, 1971 |
|
Leader of Awami League called for a one-day general strike. General condition of law and order in East Pakistan starts to deteriorate. Most of the opposition parties and non-Bengali residents increasingly become victims of organized Awami League violence. Large-scale killings of non-Bengali population began throughout East Pakistan. Properties owned by Non-Bengalis became targets of arson and bombings. |
|
March 15, 1971 |
|
President Yahya Khan goes to Dhaka for face-to-face negotiation with the leader of Awami League. |
|
March 25, 1971 |
|
Proposed date for inauguration of the National Assembly of Pakistan. |
|
March 26, 1971 |
|
Negotiations breakdown between the Government of Pakistan and the Awami League and Army is ordered to restore law and order. |
|
August 05, 1971 |
|
Government of Pakistan publishes the “White Paper on the Crisis in East Pakistan.” According to official accounts 62040 non-Bengalis were killed. No reliable numbers available about injuries and disappearances. |
|
November 23, 1971 |
|
Border skirmishes between India and Pakistan begin. |
|
December 16, 1971 |
Reuters, BBC News |
Dhaka, Capital of East Pakistan, falls. Through negotiation more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers and civilians were taken POWS and went into safe custody of the Indian army. About one Million non-Bengalis are left behind at the mercy of the Mukti Bahini. Mukti Bahini goes on a killing spree and are reported to have ruthlessly murdered more than 300,000 innocent unarmed non-Bengalis. |
|
December 17, 1971 |
|
Public executions of “Biharis” take place at Dhaka Race Course Ground. (Play video) |
|
January 23, 1972 |
|
Thirty thousand Biharis besieged in the Adamjee Jute Mills move to camps. Most Biharis herded into 66 “internment camps” to save them from the wrath of the Bengali population. |
|
January 30, 1972 |
|
Bangladeshi troops ordered to confiscate all weapons. Several thousand Biharis were arrested and imprisoned on allegations of collaboration with Pakistani forces. |
|
January 31, 1972 |
US Department of State country report on Bangladesh |
The Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh refused and turned down the offer of Bangladesh citizenship and instead raised Pakistani flags in their camps, thus expressing their desire for repatriation to Pakistan. |
|
February 05, 1972 |
|
Pakistani foreign office appeals to 13 nations, who had already recognized Bangladesh to help stop the massacre of “Biharis”. |
|
February 09, 1972 |
|
International relief organizations were banned from visiting the internment camps. Bangladeshi official visits the camps for the first time. |
|
March , 1972 |
|
December 1971 – March 1972. Massacre of Biharis continues. Thousands killed. Most Biharis discharged from jobs. All properties belonging to non-Bengalis confiscated by executive order by the interim President of Bangladesh. |
|
March 12, 1972 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
Addressing a large crowd gathered at the Mazar-e-Quaid to show solidarity with those on hunger strike for the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis, Moulana Ehtesham-ul-Haque Thanvi said if those patriotic Pakistanis are not repatriated it would tantamount to negation of the ideology of Pakistan. |
|
March 14, 1972 |
|
Killings of Biharis continue in various parts of the country. |
|
April 02, 1972 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
The governor of Sindh Mr. Mumtaz Ali Bhutto and the advisor to the President Mr. Mahmud Ali said in a statement that the Government of Pakistan is committed to repatriating the patriotic Pakistanis from East Pakistan and shall be ready to share whatever the burden that comes on way. |
|
July , 1972 |
|
Bhutto signed Simla accord with Indra Ghandi. |
|
July 02, 1972 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
Nawazadah Nasrullah Khan said that the government of Pakistan should immediately repatriate the patriotic non-Bengalis from East Pakistan. |
|
November 22, 1972 |
Daily Nawai Waqt, Lahore |
Mian Mahmud Ali Qasoori said that the patriotic Pakistanis stranded in East Pakistan have a right to come and live in any part of Pakistan. |
|
December 08, 1972 |
Daily Jasarat, Karachi |
Moulana Moudoodi said, “Only Allah knows how much pain I feel for the agony and misery that the patriotic Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh are enduring in the name of Pakistan and Islam. |
|
August , 1973 |
AFP, Reuters |
A tripartite agreement was concluded in August 1973 between Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. As per the agreement about 250,000 Bengalis were airlifted from Pakistan to Bangladesh, 93,000 POWS were released from the Indian custody (Bangladesh agreed to drop the demand of war crimes trial of 195 Pakistani army officials) and returned to Pakistan and the non-Bengali stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh were supposed to be repatriated to Pakistan. A three-point criterion was established to determine eligibility, which included: 1. Those domiciled in West Pakistan 2. Federal government employees, and 3. Members of the Divided Families |
|
August 28, 1973 |
|
Pakistan and India sign Agreement on Repatriation of Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees. |
|
December , 1973 |
|
International Committee of Red Cross completes registration of 539,669 persons who want to return to Pakistan. |
|
January 01, 1974 |
Daily Jang, Karachi Reuters |
Following the New Delhi Tripartite agreement, first batch of 120,000 stranded Pakistanis was airlifted to Pakistan. |
|
February 22, 1974 |
US Library of Congress report |
Pakistan recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign country |
|
January 01, 1978 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
In a meeting, Cabinet Division of Government of Pakistan decided in principle to repatriate all former East Pakistan Railways employees and their family members stranded in Bangladesh. |
|
August 15, 1979 |
|
50,000 desperate Stranded Pakistanis attempt to March 1200 miles across India to get to Pakistan. Bangladeshi army foils the effort and men are beaten back to the camps. Hundreds are arrested and thousands injured in the charge that followed. |
|
January , 1981 |
Reuters |
At a conference of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), twelve international and national organizations decided to form a working group to assist Pakistan and Bangladesh in the resettlement of issues between them including that of stranded Pakistanis. |
|
March , 1981 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
The Stranded Pakistanis general Repatriation Committee (SPGRC) threatened to hold a long march, a general hunger strike, and a boycott of wheat ration handed out to them by the Bangladesh Government, unless their demand of repatriation to Pakistan was expedited. |
|
September , 1982 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
Some 4,600 Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh camps were repatriated to Pakistan after a year of no publicized plans for official repatriation by the Pakistani government. The US $ 1.5 Million airlift was financed by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. The operation was done in conjunction with the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). |
|
May , 1986 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
Police arrested Afaq Shahid Khan (an independent MNA elect from Orangi Town, Karachi) in Karachi where he was on a hunger strike for more than a week. He was pressing for immediate repatriation of the Pakistanis stranded in the camps in Bangladesh. |
|
January , 1988 |
Daily Jang, Karachi Daily Dawn, Karachi |
Rabita Trust was established following an agreement signed between the late President Gen. Zial-ul-Haq and Dr. Abdullah Omar Al-Naseef, the then Secretary General of the Muslim World League and member of Saudi Shura Council. This was assigned for plans leading to repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh |
|
September , 1991 |
Daily Jang Karachi |
Pakistan government under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed to finally initiate the process of the stalled repatriation and rehabilitation of some 250,000 stranded Pakistanis. |
|
November 12, 1991 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
According to the reports, the Pakistani officials announce today that the Government of Pakistan had decided in principle to expedite repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh. |
|
November 17, 1991 |
Daily Dawn, Karachi |
It was reported that the Muslim World League urged all Muslims through out the world to fund the return of the stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh to Pakistan. The cost was estimated to be US $ 300 Million. |
|
January 01, 1992 |
Rabita Trust News |
A census of the population of the Urdu-speaking Pakistanis stranded in camps in Bangladesh since 1971was carried out in 1992 jointly by representatives of the governments of Pakistan & Bangladesh together with one representative each from the Rabita Trust and the stranded Pakistani community. The population was finally agreed by all four representatives to stand at 238,000. Identity Cards were prepared for each of the stranded Pakistanis for use as travel documents and are in the custody of the Rabita Trust Office in Dhaka. |
|
August 11, 1992 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
The governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh issued a joint statement at the end of Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s three-day visit to Pakistan, that Pakistan would begin repatriation of the stranded. The phased repatriation would begin with an airlift of 3,000 families in December 1992. |
|
September 21, 1992 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
The Pakistani High Commission with the cooperation of Rabita-al-Alam Islami Bangladesh (Saudia Arabia based charity) began process of preparing identity cards To thousands of Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh. One I.D. card was to be issued to each per family. All camps and families were assigned a number. (Sample ID cards) |
|
January 12, 1993 |
Nawae Waqt, Lahore |
Pakistan’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Chaudry Amir Hussain, announced that the Stranded Pakistanis would be resettled in 32 districts of the province of Punjab, where they would be given houses and job opportunities. |
|
June 10, 1993 |
|
The resettlement of Bihari refugees began with the arrival of 325 people in Lahore, This was the only batch to be settled in Mian Chunno, Punjab. One thousand housing units were built for the returnees only 31 units were occupied, the remainder have stayed empty or at lest were never occupied by the intended population. |
|
July 16, 1994 |
Xinhua News Agency |
The leader of the SPGRC, Mr. Nasim Khan demanded the repatriation 3,000 Families as per the joint declaration issued by the Bangladeshi Prime Minster Khaleda Zia and the then Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. One thousand housing units had been built and were lying vacant. So far, only 321 persons had been repatriated |
|
August 14, 1994 |
Deutsch Press-Agentur |
Stranded Pakistanis flew black flags and held demonstrations in refugee camps near Dhaka to mark Pakistan’s independence day. Twenty-three people were injured as over 2,000 attempted to march to the Pakistan embassy and were stopped by police in riot gear. The previous week the Bangladesh government had demolished stranded Pakistani’s shelters in the camps on the pretext of criminal activities in the camps. |
|
December 19, 1994 |
Reuters |
Around 500 Stranded Pakistanis threatened to march to Pakistan or kill themselves during a protest in Dhaka. They were demanding the establishment of a schedule by Pakistan, to fulfill the terms of the 1992 repatriation agreement. |
|
February 04, 1995 |
Reuters |
Hundreds of Biharis stage a protest in Dhaka against delays in their repatriation to Pakistan. The SPGRC organized demonstrations and also denounced Recent Pakistani remarks that they would not be accepted (in Pakistan). |
|
March 08, 1995 |
Moneyclips |
The head of the Muslim World league indicated that the suspension of the repatriation and rehabilitation of the Stranded Pakistanis was not due to shortage of funds. The MWL and the Rabita Trust Board were established to collect funds for the Stranded Pakistanis. Various Muslim leaders have pledged to provide funds; however they are first waiting for the repatriation program to be activated. |
|
March 08, 1995 |
Web News |
The head of the Muslim World League indicated that the suspension of the repatriation and rehabilitation of the stranded Pakistanis was not due to a shortage of funds. Various Muslim leaders have pledged funds; however, they are first waiting for the repatriation program to be reactivated. |
|
April 18, 1995 |
Reuters |
Nearly one thousand Stranded Pakistanis staged a demonstration to protest the delay in their repatriation to Pakistan. |
|
April 23, 1995 |
Deutsche Press-Agentur |
Over 500 Stranded Pakistanis including women and children took part in an eight-hour hunger strike on the eve of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s visit to Pakistan. |
|
April 25, 1995 |
Xinhua News Agency |
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Pakistani counterpart, Benazir Bhutto, pledged to solve the situation of the stranded Pakistanis. Repatriations were suspended in 1992 following Sindhi concerns that the Urdu-speaking Stranded Pakistanis would tilt the demographic balance in their province. |
|
July 10, 1995 |
Deutsche Press-Agentur |
Approximately 50 Biharis staged an eight-hour hunger strike in Dhaka demanding their repatriation to Pakistan and threatening to immolate them if action was not taken. SPGRC leader, Nasim Khan, also condemned Mohajir Quami Movement (MQM) leader Altaf Hussain for demanding a separate Mohajir state, asserting that the Stranded Pakistanis want to live in Pakistan with other ethnic groups. |
|
August 14, 1995 |
Reuters |
Nearly 5000 Stranded Pakistanis staged a protest on Pakistan's Independence Day. Riot police stopped their efforts to march to the Pakistani Embassy, where 11 members of the SPGRC had offered to immolate themselves. |
|
October 31, 1995 |
Reuters |
Pakistani Interior Minister, Naseerullah Baber, stated that over 2 million illegal immigrants (mainly in Karachi) would be deported and that Pakistan would not accept Stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh. Baber indicated that he had asked other Islamic countries to take in Stranded Pakistanis. |
|
November 12, 1995 |
Reuters |
SPGRC leader Nasim Khan protested the Pakistani government's recent deportation of 150 Bangladeshis, stating that this could jeopardize the Stranded Pakistani’s repatriation. |
|
November 23, 1995 |
Reuters |
An estimated 700 people peacefully protested Pakistan’s forcible deportation of Bengali-speaking settlers. The protesters, including SPGRC members, accused Pakistan of attempting to deflect attention from the repatriation issue. |
|
November 29, 1995 |
Inter Press Services |
Bangladesh Government called on Pakistan to honor a 1974 agreement that required it to take back the stranded Pakistanis living in Bangladesh since 1971. |
|
December 01, 1995 |
BBC News |
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) presses Pakistan to allow for the return of Stranded Pakistanis. The organization has been providing financial assistance to help run the 66 camps in Bangladesh where the Stranded Pakistanis are housed. |
|
March 11, 1996 |
Duetsche-Agentur |
Tensions remain high in the southern city of Khulna after some Stranded Pakistanis hoisted a Pakistani flag at the start of World cricket game between India and Pakistan Some Bengalis then set the flag on fire. |
|
April 24, 1996 |
Reuters |
Thousands of Stranded Pakistanis demonstrate in Dhaka demanding their return to Pakistan. |
|
June 10, 1996 |
Reuters |
Sheikh Hasina Wajed assumed power in Bangladesh and vowed to push for the completion of the repatriation process. |
|
August 14, 1996 |
Reuters |
While they were attempting to march to the Pakistan embassy in Dhaka, hundreds of Biharis scuffle with the police and a few attempt self-immolations to press for their Return to Pakistan. |
|
August 18, 1996 |
Reuters |
Pakistani Foreign Secretary Mr. Sheikh says his country is willing to take back Stranded Pakistanis, although he did not set out a timetable. During his visit to Dhaka, hundreds of Biharis presented Sheikh with a memorandum urging their Immediate return. |
|
September 05, 1996 |
Asia Times |
Pakistani Interior Minister Naseer Ullah Babar asserts that as long as he retains his position, the Biharis will not be repatriated. He also alleged that when they have returned to Pakistan, they have engaged in undesirable activities. |
|
November 15, 1996 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
An erstwhile opponent of repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh, Benazir Bhutto took a U-turn here in Orangi Town; a settlement of Biharis who migrated from former East Pakistan. In a public rally here, on the eve of the election campaign to boost the candidacy of Afaq Shahid, she told the cheering crowd, "You give us Afaq Shahid (meaning elect him) and I promise to give you the Biharis from Bangladesh; meaning a promise to repatriate the stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh. |
|
December 03, 1996 |
Reuters |
Some Biharis appear to have given up any hopes of returning to Pakistan. They have formed a new organization, the Committee for Rehabilitation of Non-Bengalis in Bangladesh. The Committee says that many younger Biharis speak Bengali and have adopted the culture. In its first week, it says some 2200 families have applied for citizenship. The organization also wants the government to allow the Biharis to leave camps and to provide funds to build houses and schools. The Bangladesh Government has not commented on the committee requests. |
|
March 08, 1997 |
Deutsche Presse-Agentur |
The coalition government of province of Sindh has added the Bihari issue to its agenda. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says she opposes the repatriation of the Biharis as it could threaten national unity and security. She says that tensions between Sindhi and Urdu speakers (referred to as Mohijirs) will escalate. The Biharis are Urdu-speaking. |
|
December 26, 1997 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
To raise funds for the purpose of building housing units for repatriation and rehabilitation of the stranded Pakistanis, the government of Pakistan and the Rabita Trust issued a joint appeal for donations. Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz signed the appeal (on behalf of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif) which was published by newspapers in Urdu, Arabic and English languages. Dr. Abdullah Ibn Salih Al-Obaid, Secretary General of the Rabita also signed the appeal on behalf of Board of Rabita Trust for rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis. |
|
January , 1998 |
USCR |
In its report US Committee for Refugees (USCR) says, “they are not technically refugees in the sense that they have not been persecuted nor do they have any reason to fear for persecution, although those without citizenship do not enjoy the privileges and benefits associated with Bangladeshi citizenship. Biharis nonetheless still face many problems that refugees would, therefore the US Committee for Refugees includes them in population they consider to be in circumstances |
|
January , 1998 |
Daily Dawn, Karachi |
During a visit to Bangladesh, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reiterated his promise to take back all the stranded Pakistanis and rehabilitate them in the province of Punjab. |
|
January , 1998 |
Daily Dawn, Karachi |
The Foreign Minister of Pakistan Mr. Sartaj Aziz is purported to have said that the Biharis (meaning the stranded Pakistanis) stranded in Bangladesh are not Pakistanis at all. |
|
January , 1998 |
International Herald Tribute |
An advertisement appeared in the International Herald Tribune appealing for donations to the Rabita Trust of Stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh; signed by the Secretary General of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and Minister Sartaj Aziz. |
|
January , 1998 |
Crescent International, Ontario, Canada |
Internment Camps of Bangladesh - A book by Loraine Mirza "Had the stranded Pakistanis been Jews or Christians, it is safe to assume that there would be an international outcry about their plight. From the US President down to the Congress and the toothless UN, all would have rallied in aid of these people. There is a particularly tragic case because they are the only true Pakistanis. While others have lived a parasitic existence in Pakistan, the Biharis have given their lives, blood and even sacrificed their honor and their children for the sake of Pakistan. And yet they remain forgotten and unwanted…Why have the Biharis been given the cold shoulder by Pakistan"? |
|
January 02, 1998 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
Ahmed Naseem Qasmi said, "after the fall of Dhaka more than 90,000 POWs were taken to India but their nationality did not change, they remained Pakistanis; in the same analogy how can the nationality of those Pakistanis living in the then East Pakistan change? They are Pakistanis like any body else is and should be taken back to Pakistan without further delay". |
|
January 17, 1998 |
Deutsche-Agentenur |
More than one thousand stranded Pakistanis held demonstration in Dhaka during the state visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif. Some 35 protesters are injured in Dhaka and 15 are arrested, as police dispersed the crowds. The Stranded Pakistanis presented a memorandum calling for their repatriation. No progress is reported following the talks between the two prime ministers. |
|
January 27, 1998 |
AFP |
Pakistani Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif, during his visit to Bangladesh, gave his firm commitment to repatriate Stranded Pakistanis once the necessary funds are raised. |
|
May 17, 1998 |
Daily Nation, Lahore |
A noted writer Khalid Hasan in an article writes: "We call them Biharis, a description both insensitive and inaccurate. But they have a name for themselves: stranded Pakistanis. After a week in Dhaka, I have returned convinced that stranded they indeed are and Pakistanis they always have been and always will be…whichever way it is worked out or looked at, the fact remains that the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh are the legal and, above all, the moral responsibility of Pakistan. Their repatriation can only be delayed or denied at the cost of fairness and injustice. The number is not large, perhaps 250,000, may be less. But in the end, it is not the numbers that matter but the principle. It is time to bring them home". |
|
June 12, 1998 |
Arab News, Saudi Arabia |
Pakistani Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif reiterated his commitment for repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh. He was speaking to Ehsan-ul-Haq of PRC in Jeddah. The prime minister also assured he would look into PRC proposal of Repatriation on self-Finance basis and said that it would be implemented if found feasible. |
|
October 14, 1998 |
The Independent |
The Pakistani Government said that it was working on the repatriation issue and that it has approached the Rabita Alam Al-Islami for US $ 200 Million. Pakistan would match the funds, which would be used to build housing and resettle the Biharis in Pakistan. |
|
March 05, 1999 |
Xinhua News The Hindu |
Pakistani Prime Minister Mr. Nawaz Sharif stated that while it doesn’t accept that the Biharis are Pakistani citizens, it would take them on humanitarian grounds. The Prime Minister Sharif also said that he has appointed a Commission to expedite the process of repatriation. |
|
May 15, 2000 |
International Herald Tribute |
A noted international writer Barry Bearak in his article in International Herald Tribune writes about the miseries the stranded Pakistanis have endured. "They live as refugees, though theirs is a more peculiar predicament. They did not leave their country; their country left them…In 1947, when India and Pakistan were loosed from the British empire millions of Muslims left largely Hindu India; some going east, some west. Those going east were called Biharis because most had come from the Indian State of Bihar. In India, their religion had made them a minority. In East Pakistan, their language did the same". |
|
January 01, 2001 |
PRC News |
Internationally renowned human rights activist Ansar Burney, speaking at a reception hosted in his honor by PRC in Jeddah expressed his indignation over delay in repatriation of stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh. |
|
June 17, 2001 |
Saudi Gazette |
Speaking at a symposium held in Jeddah organized by PRC on "Self-Finance Scheme for the Repatriation & Rehabilitation of Stranded Pakistanis", Francis Lamand (member of UNHCR) had suggested that steps be taken to activate the status of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh as "refugees". This could qualify them for living allowance and funds for transportation once the repatriation starts. |
|
September 23, 2001 |
AFP |
US State Department, on Sept 23, 2001, categorized the Rabita Trust as an organization linked to terrorism. The US administration has pointed that the Rabita Trust is part of a web of charities funding terrorist movements. This charge were later vehemently denied by the spokesman of the Rabita Trust. This trust was formed in 1988 with an exclusive aim of organizing the repatriation and rehabilitation of the stranded Pakistanis from Bangladesh. Rabita Trust initiated an enquiry and audit of the funds at its disposal by chartered accounting firm of Ferguson & Ferguson in 2003, which determined the charge was totally false. However, since the funds now stand frozen this has seriously affected the program of repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis. To date the initial capitalization has grown to 670 Million Rupees. |
|
January 01, 2002 |
U.S. Committee for Refugees |
The United States Committee for Refugees, in its annual report for 2002, lists the stranded Pakistanis as a refugee problem still an outstanding issue, demanding immediate resolution of the same. It states: "Biharis an estimated 240,000 to 300,000 many of whom consider themselves citizens of Pakistan, live in Bangladesh in refuge-like circumstances. In 1971, following a bloody struggle for independence, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Some Biharis, having supported Pakistan in the war, migrated form Bangladesh to Pakistan after the conflict, but most were too poor to make the move. The residual population remained stranded in Bangladesh, waiting for the day when Pakistan would send for them". |
|
July 29, 2002 |
Asia Times Online |
President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf, apologized to the Bengali nation for the events of 1971 in which the Pakistan army is alleged to have committed excesses on Bengali people. It is also reported during the official talks, Pakistan has said it cannot take back roughly 237,000 Urdu-speaking stranded Pakistanis immediately and that it will focus on their repatriation once it took care of some three million Afghan refugees displaced by years of civil war and the US war on terrorism. |
|
July 30, 2002 |
|
A five-member delegation of SPGRC (Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee) met with President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, at the Sonorgoan Hotel. Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Foreign affairs of Pakistan, Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Pakistan High Commissioner, R.H.Bokhari and First Secretary Pakistan High Commissioner. Meeting lasted for an hour. The SPGRC delegation presented General Musharraf with two books about atrocities committed against the Stranded Pakistanis and was urged to take immediate steps regarding repatriation of Pakistanis. President replied "leave the task to me" and repeated it three times. He further assured the delegates that his government will do everything possible to get this issue resolved. |
|
February 14, 2003 |
Saudi Gazette, Saudi Arabia |
Prof. Francis Lamand, a noted scholar from France, Founder and President of "Islam and the West", has called for resolving the issue of stranded Pakistanis languishing in 66 camps of Bangladesh for the past three decades. He was speaking at a reception in Jeddah organized in his honor by PRC. |
|
February 26, 2003 |
Daily Dawn, Karachi |
The authorities of the Dhaka City Corporation and the Housing & Public Works Ministry on Feb 22, demolished some 300 thatched houses in the 30-year-old camp in Mirpur, rendering about 3000 people homeless. During the eviction 70 protesting slum dwellers were also injured. These evicted stranded Pakistanis then staged a token hunger strike to protest this inhuman act and demanded immediate rehabilitation. |
|
March 25, 2003 |
Arab News, Saudi Arabia |
Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank expressed confidence that the new set up of Rabita Trust would help resolve the issue of stranded Pakistanis. He was speaking at a reception organized by PRC in Jeddah to celebrate the Pakistan Day. |
|
May 06, 2003 |
BBC News |
Ten Bihari refugees in Bangladesh have been granted voting rights after the High Court declared they were citizens of the country. It is the first time that some of the thousands of Urdu-speaking Biharis have been recognized as Bangladeshi nationals. The Court order followed a petition by the group who live in the so-called Geneva camp in Dhaka, one of the main refugee camps in Bangladesh. Waliur Rahman reporting. |
|
May 28, 2003 |
BBC News |
There is both optimism and pessimism, depending on the generation difference, among the 300,000 refugees in Bangladesh known locally as Biharis or Stranded Pakistanis. Younger people are elated over a recent court ruling, which, for the first time, allowed 10 Biharis to assume Bangladeshi citizenship and have voting rights. But the older people despair at the enthusiasm of many of those born after the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence to stay in Bangladesh. They say their true home is in Pakistan. Alastair Lawson reporting. |
|
June 16, 2003 |
U.S Committee for Refugees |
The US Committee for Refugees (USCR) welcomed the historic decision of the Bangladeshi High Court granting citizenship to ten Biharis. |
|
August 08, 2003 |
Daily Dawn, Karachi |
Shamsher Mubin Chowdhry, the Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary told newsmen in Islamabad that Dhaka has requested Islamabad for an early solution to long-standing problem of repatriation of stranded Pakistanis. The Foreign Secretary also said Dhaka was planning to invite the Karachi City Mayor to Dhaka to have another round of talks with the Dhaka City Mayor in order to settle the issue of the stranded Pakistanis. |
|
August 22, 2003 |
PRC News |
In his message to PRC on the eve of publication of it’s magazine Hisaar, the renowned writer, intellectual and poet Jamil Uddin Aali extended his felicitation and wished all the best for the cause of repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis. He stated that it was shameful that the government has abandoned our brothers & sisters and forced them to live in sub-human conditions in shanty camps away from their country. |
|
August 25, 2003 |
SPIB News |
Concerned citizens in U.S. and Canada form an non-profit advocacy group for the Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh under the banner “Stateless People in Bangladesh” |
|
August 28, 2003 |
PRC News |
In a message for the PRC magazine Hisaar, Prof. Khurshid Ahmed (Chairman Institute of Policy Studies) said, “It is a shame that about quarter of a million Pakistanis are languishing in improvised camps in pitiable conditions in Dhaka for over 32 years and the government and the people of Pakistan have done precious little to alleviate their plight and bring them back to their homeland Pakistan”. |
|
November 09, 2003 |
The Daily Star, Dhaka |
Representatives of the Stranded Pakistanis met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Mr. Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri to reiterate their long-standing demand for taking them back to their homeland. At a press conference at the Dhaka Press Club, chief patron Mr. Nasim Khan said that General Pervez Musharraf gave us assurance of looking in to this matter during his visit here last year but nothing has happened yet. |
|
December 17, 2003 |
The Nation, Lahore |
Justice (retired) Dr. Javed Iqbal said that Pakistan and Bangladesh should jointly resolve the issue of Bihari’s settlement. In this connection the cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Countries should also be sought. He was speaking at the special sitting organized in Lahore by Nazria Pakistan Foundation to mark the fall of Dhaka. |
|
January 13, 2004 |
The Khaleej Times, UAE |
The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan informed the Lahore High Court that the future of those calling themselves Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh was linked with the country they had been living since the dismemberment of Pakistan. |
|
January 15, 2004 |
The News, Karachi |
The legislators belonging to the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) have strongly reacted to the refusal of the federal government regarding the settlement of stranded Pakistanis. The MMA leaders criticized the government for issuing such statements time and again adding insult to their injuries and called for making arrangements for their return. The MMA would arrange for their settlement, they added. |
|
May 01, 2004 |
SPIB News |
First web site dealing exclusively with the issue of Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh is launched. www.statelesspeopleinbangladesh.net |
|
May 07, 2004 |
Daily Jang, Karachi |
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Mr. Riaz Khokar while on a visit to Dhaka said at a press conference at Hotel Sheraton prior to his departure for Islamabad: “As I said it is not a simple issue, it is a complex problem…but we don’t avoid it, we talk about it and lets see how we can find a solution to the problem”. |
|
June 01, 2004 |
The Arab News, Saudi Arabia |
Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) launched its first ever magazine HISAAR in Jeddah. The ceremony was co-chaired by Mr. Abduallah Omar Naseef (President World Muslim Congress) and Francis Lamand, renowned international lawyer, ex-member UNHCR and a supporter of the cause. |
