Voting sight : A contentious issue of Bihari camp dwellers

After long 35 years, the Government of Bangladesh at last recognised the status of the Urdu speaking people who have been languishing in more than 70 small and large refugees like camp situation since the emergence of Bangladesh.

The Government, earlier, did not take into consideration the decisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in the cases of Mukhtar Ahmed, Abdul Khaleque and Professor Ghulam Azam in respect of its applications on the citizenship status of the Urdu speaking camp dwellers.

Mukhtar Ahmed was an Urdu speaking, who like many others had applied for repatriation to Pakistan. Notwithstanding, the Court ruled that "The mere fact that he filed an application for going over to Pakistan cannot take away his citizenship."

Similar principle is also laid down in the case of Abdul Khaleque vs. Court of Settlement and others. In this case it was observed by their lordship that mere filing of an application for repatriation cannot take away the citizenship of a person.

In the case of Bangladesh vs. Prof Ghulam Azam, it was observed that even a diehard pro-Pakistani, born in this country, is entitled to be a citizen of Bangladesh if he fulfills the requirements under Article 2 and is not disqualified under clause (1) of Article 2B.

!n 1993, it became clear that Government has changed its policy towards the Urdu speaking camp dwellers, when it did not challenge the landmark judgment of the High Court in the case of Abid khan vs. Bangladesh.

It may be noted that Abid Khan and other 9 residents of Geneva Camp, Mohammadpur, Dhaka, before filing the writ petition had approached the Election Commission and requested for enrollment of their names in the voters list that was made public on 27 May 2001. But the Election Commission refused their request on ground that they were residing in Geneva Camp and thus were not eligible to be registered as voters. However, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, High Court Division has held:

"We do not find that only because of the concentration of Urdu speaking people, who were the citizens of erstwhile East Pakistan, the so called Geneva Camp has attained any special status so as to be excluded from the operation of the laws of the land including the said President Order, the Electoral Rolls Ordinance, 1982 or the Citizenship Act, 1951. So, mere residence of the first group of the petitioners at the Geneva Camp cannot be termed allegiance to another state by conduct."

When the Government conceded to this judgment, the Election Commission found no barrier and decided to send its enumerators to enlist the names of the Urdu speaking camp dwellers who wish to be registered as voters. The enumeration, however, could not be completed in many camps as all the enumerators assigned to those areas where camps are located, did not receive the directives from the Election Commission. This situation deprived many people in the camps of their voting rights. Even then, in comparison to Dhaka, Chittagong and other places, 80 to 90 per cent camp dwellers in Rajshahi, Syedpur and Khulna registered their names as voters with the enumerators, who visited their camps.

Earlier, offices of the Election Commission in various districts were approached by several organisations of the camp residents and urged the officials of the Commission for registering the eligible residents of the camps as voters. These organisations observed the International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2006 by organising human chains, rallies, meetings and seminar in Mymensingh, Khulna, Syedpur and Dhaka and demanded their voting rights. They also mustered support from the civil society for achieving their rights as citizens of the country.

However, the camp people got the chance of their registration as voters only in few places including Syedpur, Khulna, Rajshahi and Mirpur (Dhaka). In other places either the officials of the Election Commission could not reach or the camp dwellers found themselves confused in taking a decision in this regard.

One major factor that influenced the camp dwellers for not registering as voters was the movement of the repatriation committee. When the Election Commission initiated the move to register the camp dwellers as voters, the repatriation committee immediately printed and distributed a handbill in Urdu and Bangla. The handbill warned the camp people that if they become voters, then the Government would evict them from their present habitats and thus they would be deprived of the existing facilities like free water and electric supply and rent free housing. The handbill says that the repatriation committee will not take any responsibility if the Government evicts them from the camps.

It is now clear that the camp dwellers are divided into two divergent groups. One group, the pro-repatriation committee has adopted a confusing and contradicting stand. The followers of this group calls themselves as "stranded Pakistanis" though none of them or their parents has ever come from Pakistan to settle in Bangladesh. History says that their ancestors had migrated from Indian States of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to the erstwhile East Pakistan when the British India was divided in 1947. Since then they have been living in this country. The pro-repatriation group demands repatriation of the "stranded Pakistanis" to Pakistan and at the same time asks the Government to rehabilitate them in Bangladesh if repatriation is not possible. It also demands for a tripartite dialogue among Bangladesh, Pakistan and the repatriation committee (SPGRC) to resolve the outstanding issues of repatriation. In a round table meeting in Dhaka organised by the Refugee Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU), a spokesman of this group claimed that they have developed a strategic plan for the rehabilitation of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh, but it would not be made public.

There are other groups and factions who want to live in Bangladesh with dignity to reshape a future for their new generation. Unlike the pro-repatriation group, the pro-rehabilitation groups are divided and have no common platform to project their viewpoints. They share a common stand on their voting rights as recognised citizens and demand rehabilitation in the mainstream as equal citizens of Bangladesh with restoration of their lost social, political, cultural and economic rights as a linguistic minority.

One of these groups claims that before the 10 petitioners, Biharis living in Latifpur Colony in Bogra and Alamnagar Camp in Rangpur had become voters and they also cast their votes during the last General Elections. But none of them were evicted from their habitats for being voters. They enjoy all facilities that are available for other camps dwellers in Bangladesh.

When names of 10 petitioners were enlisted in the voters list on the directive of High Court, the Government did not take any move to evict them from their residence. On the other hand, the Government has rehabilitated about 660 Bihari families in Syedpur under its Abashan Project and recently allocated 12.6 acres of land in the Adamjee EPZ for the rehabilitation of about 1300 Bihari families.

It is also alleged that many young people including the children of the leaders of the pro repatriation movement obtained diploma and degree through various public and private institutions by registering their nationality as Bangladeshi and not as "stranded Pakistanis." But these leaders become allergic when their opponents declare their identity as Bangladeshi. One of the pro-rehabilitation leaders said "this 'double standard' of the leaders of the repatriation movement has exposed their sincerity and integrity on one hand and deprived many camp dwellers and their innocent young children from the benefits of education, economic and social advancement.

Among the community the impartial and unbiased people suggest that those who belong to repatriation movement, should focus on the repatriation of the neediest like orphans and widows and divided families on humanitarian ground but not for every Urdu speaking people. Those who want to be rehabilitated in Bangladesh, they should form their own platform to demand their basic human rights as are ensured in the Constitution to live an honourable life as equal citizens of Bangladesh.