Dear friends,
I hope at least a few of you would have already heard about the sad plight of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh. Some of you may have always been providing some help to this suffering sea of humanity on a regular basis. How ever, my first visits in July 2004 to the different camps has been an eye opener. Suddenly, the gravity of the problem at hand was before me in full show!
I began to understand the virtue of the old dictum that poverty is often self-perpetuating. No amount of relief and charity work in piecemeal doses will bring a permanent solution to such grave tragedies. What we need is a visionary roadmap with a broader long-term perspective. OBAT Helpers is determined to take up the challenge and hence our emphasis on involvement and empowerment of the affected communities in all our programs.
History
The The Stranded Pakistanis who are also referred as Biharis, have a population of almost 250 thousand. They are settled in more than 60 camps in different cities of Bangladesh. The history goes back to the partition of India in 1947. They are mostly from the Indian state of Bihar, who moved to East Pakistan (present Bangladesh)during partition in 1947.
In 1971 the civil war led to the creation of Bangladesh. Due to the law & order situations these people compelled to accommodate in 66 temporary camps across the country. They never thought that this will be their permanent home for couple decades. Initially they thought that they will be move back to the West part of Pakistan, but that dream never came true. Three decades later, they are still waiting.
Almost all camps lack basic amenities, privacy and social life. They have lived in these camps since 1971. Presently, they are not citizens of Pakistan or Bangladesh. An entire generation has lost their identity. They are suffering from severe demographic stresses. Even in misery they held their heads high, and were driven by the hope that they would be able to start life afresh, sooner than later. They never dreamt that these temporary shelters would become their cursed homes for eternity.
The Governments of Pakistan and Bangladesh did wake up with occasional sound bytes on this human calamity of unbound proportions. But the efforts were always scratchy and it was always a case of too little, too late.
Present Scenario
There are still about 240,000 to 300,000 Biharis living in refugee-like conditions across the innumerable dingy camps with no access to basic human amenities.
What wrong have they committed to be subjected to such an inhuman life of abject poverty, indignity and humiliation? Did they err in their judgments for having left India, for being loyal to Pakistan, for being truthful to their language and culture? The lack of political will and bureaucratic ineptitude has further aggravated the crisis beyond imagination.
We are very much thankful to Refugees International for their help and support in this issue. Refugees International (Washington DC based organization) generates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for displaced people around the world and works to end the conditions that create displacement.
Mission Hope
The silver lining is that these people still have hopes; they dream of a better tomorrow. Luckily, all is not lost yet and we still have time to put our acts together. Let us salute their fighting spirits; let us rekindle their hopes; let us give them good water, sanitation, health care, education; let us help them follow their dreams
TOGETHER, we can make the difference!
Thank You
With Best Regards
Anwar Khan (Akmal)
Reach me at anwar@obathelpers.org
